


Go Rogue!

by DaniTsubasa



Category: RebelCaptain - Fandom, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Affection, Birthday, Childbirth, Childhood, Childhood Memories, Comfort, Dancing and Singing, Different Endings, Earth, Fights, Friendship, Happy Ending, Hope, Hoth, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Romance, Sleepy Cuddles, Song Lyrics, Yavin 4
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2018-11-03 21:55:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 38,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10976109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaniTsubasa/pseuds/DaniTsubasa
Summary: What really happened to Jyn and Cassian after the destruction of Scarif? Was the end inevitable? In this little fanfic, you may see alternate endings for the supposed death of Jyn and Cassian and moments that may have happened in the future.This story is made up of a series of one-shots, so you can start reading it from any chapter. Some chapters may have some relation to each other, or continue previous chapters. / This same story is being posted by me in Nyah Fanfiction.





	1. Go Rogue!

**Author's Note:**

> 1 - I don't know how to speak English perfectly, so I apologize for any grammatical mistake I make.
> 
> 2 - There are several chapters ready, but I still need to translate it to English.
> 
> 3 - This is the first time I publish a fanfic in AO3. I hope you like it. =)
> 
> 4 - Star Wars and its characters don't belong to me. I leave the credits to George Lucas.

 

                “Leave him! Leave him! Come on... Come on” Cassian insisted, pulling her hand and holding her firmly in his arms.

                The words lingered in Jyn's ears as he tried to contain her from her fury to Krennic. The girl tried to calm down. Cassian was right, the whole planet was being destroyed and they would surely die there. She looked one last time at the man she so hated lying on the floor and walked away with Cassian, wrapping one of his arms around her shoulders to help him walk. He was hurt, and only then Jyn realized the look of pain on his face and the murmurs of pain as they walked away from the tower. When she finally woke her mind from the excitement of minutes ago, she realized how relieved she was to see Cassian, when he was hit she thought he was dead. When and how had her affection for him evolved so much? She had no idea. They had spent a few days together, but lived through enough things for years. She still felt a little angry that he had lied and planned to kill her father, but Cassian had chosen not to, and it was thanks to him that she had seen him again, even if it had been his last time. Cassian looked at her with a smile, which she returned, and they exchanged a few words as they walked.

                When they reached the elevator, Jyn fired it as fast as she could and shoved Cassian inside before supporting him back onto her shoulders. The doors closed and they could breathe and calm down a bit, despite the fear of what they would see down there. Some empty spaces in the elevator structure showed the deplorable state in which Scarif was staying. Jyn looked worriedly at Cassian, an expression of pain, leaning against the elevator wall, seeming to make an effort to stand. But the pain in his brown eyes was the same as her greens. They would not survive to see the consequences of that sad and cruel battle. They knew that, deep down they always knew. It was as if they could see the deepest soul in each other. They were so close... The light came and went as the elevator moved and as they faced each other, still with one arm entwined in the other. They did not know if for everything they were going through at that very moment or for all they had lived in the last days since they had released Jyn, but their hearts seemed to beat as one, begging never to part. And so softly, without even realizing it, as if plunging into a dream, they suddenly kissed in the darkness of the elevator, eyes closed and now oblivious to the destruction outside, intertwined in a gentle embrace.

                The simple touch became more urgent and they could die that way they would not realize, but the sounds of war in Scarif getting closer shattered their dreams, forcing them to turn away and look at each other again. Despite the silent conversation between the two glances, they wanted to confess so many things aloud... But there was no time to say anything, so Jyn backed Cassian again as the elevator stopped and opened. They rushed out, watching the catastrophe consume the planet. All the places seemed to explode and bodies of stormtroopers and droids piled to the ground. They headed for the beach, already accepting that along with the inhabitants of that planet their friends were all dead. Cassian could not stand it any longer. His body ached a lot and if it was not for the desperate situation keeping him awake, he would let himself be out of consciousness again. He fell on the sand, taking Jyn along with him, and they knelt looking at the horizon, where they could see the Death Star rise in the sky as a wave of smoke and light grew there. It might seem a beautiful sight if it were not the cause of the end they would experience in a few moments. They looked at each other again, this time with the certainty that they would not survive.

               “Your father would be proud of you, Jyn” Cassian said suddenly.

                Jyn reached out to take his and he accepted. They clasped their hands in a firm grip, trying to find some comfort in the face of inevitable death. They looked at each other briefly and stared at the horizon. They could see and feel the heat of light and dust approaching the beach. Their hearts were tightening every second. They turned to each other and hugged each other tightly. At that moment Jyn felt a pain, a pain to which she was not accustomed, and for that reason she did not know to understand it immediately. Maybe it was the pain she felt when her mother was killed and her father abducted. The pain of losing what you have most precious, the pain of desperately wanting to continue living because you have a reason for it and cannot do it. And that reason was who was holding her protectively in his arms. But Jyn tried to ignore the pain. He was there with her, they would leave together. And she had accepted the possibility of dying the moment she had volunteered to help destroy the Death Star. She would leave satisfied that she would avoid destroying more planets, quiet for keeping more lives from being decimated, proud to honor her father's mission, and happy to be no longer alone, though all those she had learned to love and did her feel welcome had walked together to death that very day.

                “Cassian, I want us to stay together for as long as we can" Jyn spoke into his ear, feeling Cassian squeeze her harder. " Are you with me? "

                “All the way, Jyn.”

                Then they stood, still holding each other, taking advantage of the feeling of their names being uttered by each other for the last time, trying to concentrate on each other, because each other was all they had left. Jyn also tightened the hug and at that moment they could actually feel the two hearts beating together, and they did not know which one was which. It was strange to feel comfort and peace, and to feel loved and protected by someone in a terrible moment like that, but they felt, and it was good, perhaps the best feeling they had felt, as odd as it was to find the best feeling of their life seconds before to die. They were silent, closing their eyes and waiting. It was quick, no pain, no despair, and they did not even feel it when everything disappeared in the light and dust, to return to the beginning when Scarif did not exist yet. And so death gave life to the hope of defeating the Empire and to the legend of Rogue One, the group of brave rebels who invaded Scarif even with all the chances of dying before succeeding, and destroyed the first Death Star, echoing to always the message of Jyn, rebellions are built on hope.

 


	2. Hope starlet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They survived, and they are together. And with someone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Out of curiosity, in Portuguese "Stardust" was adapted for "Estrelinha", which in English means "starlet / little star".

                 I ran to Cassian, unable to avoid a smile when I saw him alive, though he was remarkably injured. I wanted to hold him, and we almost did, but I remembered Krennic and turned toward him with the joy in my eyes instantly shifting to anger as I stepped toward the fainting man.

                “Leave him! Leave him! Come on... Come on” Cassian insisted on pulling me by the hand and closing his arms tightly around my waist.

                The words lingered in my ears as Cassian tried to contain me from my fury to Krennic lying on the floor. But I had to admit that Cassian was right, we were going to die there. The whole planet was exploding. I looked one last time at the man I would love to strangle with my own hands and walked away with Cassian, wrapping one of his arms around my shoulders to help him walk. He was hurt, and only then did I pay attention to the look of pain on his face and the murmurs of pain as we moved away from the tower. When I finally woke my mind from the furious agitation of minutes ago I realized how relieved I was to see Cassian, when he was struck I thought he was dead. When and how had my affection for him grown so much? I had no idea. We had spent a few days together, but lived enough things for years. I still felt the edge of anger that he had lied and secretly planned to kill my father, but he had chosen not to, and it was thanks to him that I had seen him again, even if it had been the last. Cassian looked at me with a smile, which I reciprocated, and exchanged a few words as we walked.

                When we reached the elevator, I fired it as fast as I could and pushed Cassian inside before supporting him back onto my shoulders. The doors closed and we were finally able to breathe and calm down a bit, despite the fear of what we would find down there. We could see through some empty spaces in the elevator structure the deplorable state in which Scarif was staying, and we both felt the same, possibly we would not survive to see the consequences of all that. I looked worriedly at Cassian, eyes closed, with an expression of pain, leaning against the elevator wall, seeming to make an effort to stand. He opened his eyes, noticing the worry in my green eyes and trying to look stronger, but it was no use, it was as if we could see deep in each other's soul. First a look that we both knew we would die today, then only the comfort of have at least one another. We were so close... The light came and went as the elevator moved and as we faced each other deeply, still with one arm intertwined in the other, leaning on the elevator. We did not know if for everything we were going through at that very moment or for all that we had lived in the last days since they had set me free, but our hearts seemed to beat as one, begging them never to part. And so softly, without even realizing it, as if we were plunging into a dream, we were suddenly kissing in the darkness of the elevator, eyes closed and now oblivious to the destruction outside, entwining us in a gentle embrace.

                The simple contact became more urgent and we could die that way we would not have noticed, but the sounds of battle getting louder shattered our dreams, forcing us to move away and look each other again. Despite the silent chatter of our looks, we wanted to say so many things aloud... But as much as we wanted there was no time to say anything, so I just supported Cassian again as the elevator stopped and opened. We walk outside, watching the catastrophe consume the planet. Something exploded everywhere we looked and bodies of stormtroopers piled on the floor. We walked to the beach, having already accepted that along with the other inhabitants of that planet our friends were all dead. Cassian could not stand it any longer. His body ached a lot and if it was not for the urgent and desperate situation keeping him awake, I'm sure he would faint again. He dropped to his knees in the sand of the beach, leading me along, and we stood there looking at the horizon, where we could see the Death Star rise in the sky as smoke and light spread. It might even look nice if it were not to cause the end we would find in a few minutes. We looked at each other again, we would not survive.

                “Your father would be proud of you, Jyn” Cassian said suddenly.

I reached out to take his and he accepted. We clasped our hands in a firm grip, seeking comfort in the face of that inevitable end. We looked at each other briefly and stared at the horizon. We could see and feel the heat of light and dust approaching the beach. Our hearts tightened every second. We turned to each other and held each other tightly.

“Cassian, I want us to stay together for as long as we can" I spoke into his ear, feeling Cassian squeeze me harder. " Are you with me? "

                “All the way, Jyn.”

                Then we were standing still holding each other, trying to concentrate on each other, after all, each other was all we had now. I also tightened my grip on the hug and at that moment we could actually feel our hearts beating together, barely knowing which was which. It was strange to feel comfort and peace, and to feel loved and protected by someone in a terrible moment like that after we had spent our whole lives alone, but we felt. We were silent, closed our eyes and waited, until everything disappeared in the midst of light and dust.

******

                I walked quietly in the early hours of the morning through the green grass of the graceful planet where we were living hidden and protected by the Rebel Alliance after the Death Star incident. The soft breeze beat on my face and birds sang and flew in small flocks across the sky. Some lizards ran down the floor and there was also a small pond nearby. The town was within walking distance, less than an hour walk, had been our choice not to get too close to crowds. I had left early to walk while Jyn slept and now I finally saw the house where we lived. A modest but comfortable house with grass and a low wooden fence around which we had both done with our own hands. The house had been granted by a friend and Alliance ally. She was not human as the predominant race on the planet, but she was very wise and knew the place well. I smiled as I saw Jyn sitting on the grass in the garden. There were also flowers in some places, of various colors and shapes, Jyn liked that, and I could not deny that I also felt enchanted by the beauty of that planet. I walked over to her and kissed her forehead, sitting next to her and focusing on the same spot as her. The small green eyes of the baby with dark hair on his arms. I caressed the face of my daughter, who laughed at me.

                “Good morning, Stardust” I said to little Hope.

                “Where Didi you go?” Jyn asked curiously.

                “Walk…”

                “For someone who don't like to stay in just one place until you're loving this planet.”

                “It's a beautiful place. And it's a good place to raise Hope. It seems to be okay, and I hope it stays that way for now.”

                I hugged Jyn, feeling her lie on my shoulder, and Hope's murmurs mingled with the singing of flying birds, and she watched with curiosity.

                “It's still strange being alive. Not bad, of course, but strange. I could swear that it was all over in that second and now it's been three years.”

                “How many days did I sleep?”

                “You did not sleep, you became unconscious of being so hurt that you were. There were four of them. Four agonizing days. It seemed that I saw you die again in all of them.”

                I looked at her and surprised her with a long, sentimental kiss.

                “I wouldn’t leave you.”

                Jyn smiled. The battle in the universe continued. After Princess Leia handed the plans to an R2-D2 unit, she had been kidnapped by stormtroopers, but rescued by Han Solo, whom Jyn had met once before being arrested and rescued by me. We hoped we would one day be able to fight again with the Rebel Alliance, that battle was ours too, but for the moment we should remain in the shadows, in safety, taking advantage of all the happiness we could have. Hope was only three months old. We had no idea which way she would go when she grew up, but we would do anything to make her have a happier and more secure childhood than ours.

                “Cass..”

                “Hum…?” I mumbled as I was raising Hope in my arms now, and I looked at Jyn, who kissed me briefly.

                “Nothing, I just wanted to say that I love you.”

                “I love you too” I replied, smiling back.


	3. Rebellions are built on hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They almost died. Jyn thought she would lose Cassian on the way back to Yavin 4.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Out of curiosity, the Brazilian dubbing changed "All the way" to "Until the end".

                Jyn's eyes were closed. She did not see or hear anything, but she knew that some part of her was awake. Soon she would wake up completely for another escape, or just another hectic, tiring day. Or not! In her sleep Jyn had had dreams. She and Cassian were aboard any ship, both wounded and exhausted on the brink of fainting. Then it all came back to her mind. Scarif, the Death Star, his father, all her dead friends, the destruction they saw on the beach. That huge wave of thoughts hit Jyn making her feel dizzy even with her eyes closed.

                 Then she can hear the constant whistle of hospital monitors and some strange voices in place, some probably of medical droids. Jyn did not dare give a minimum sign of life, she was sure they would sedate her again without giving her even a chance to say a word. Even if she felt pain when she woke up completely, she did not care. She needed to know what had happened. It was for her to be dead. And she had to find out what had happened to Cassian.

                She waited for several minutes until she was sure the room was empty and the door closed. She opened her eyes slowly, blinking slightly until she felt comfortable. The light that entered through the single narrow window at the top of the wall indicated that it was light outside. The first thing she did was remove the oxygen mask from her face after making sure she was fine without it. Then she noticed the serum in her left hand and tried to find out how much she had injured herself. She did not feel pain, she must have been anesthetized, she felt only weak. She may notice that bandages wrapped around her left shoulder, her two legs and her right foot, and several scratches and bruises were visible in her arms as well as she could feel on her face and neck. She was wearing white hospital clothes, the fabric was light, soft and nice, almost like ordinary pajamas. Then she looked at something else. There was a heart monitor attached to her, but she was hearing two beeps. Whose second was it? Finally she looked to her left, realizing that the room was much larger than she thought, but it was another thing that made her heartbeat change in shock, fear and joy at the same time. A bacta tank was installed there. Inside, she could see Cassian, unconscious, dressed only from the waist down in white hospital pants, still visibly injured, though he must have been much worse before she woke up. A burn was mingling with another larger wound that ran from the shoulder to the chest, probably from when he had been shot and fell, as well as minor bruising and bruising on the rest of the body. An oxygen mask and a heart monitor were attached to him.

           Jyn's eyes filled with tears, he was alive, they were both! The beeps on the monitor indicated that his heart was fine, beating at a steady, reassuring pace. She desperately wanted to see him awake and talk to him. She wanted to run into the tank to be closer to him, but she feared her legs would not obey. She tried to move them and noticed that she could, although it hurt a little, but she was weak. She probably would not stand on her feet yet, so she did not even try. The door opened again and a medical droid entered Jyn's misfortune.

                “If you sedate me I swear I'll shoot you with a blaster when I get up.”

                “That's what I was advised to do if you woke up confused or aggressive.”

                “I'm not confused. I'm very aware of everything, including what I just said.”

                “Threatening a droid is not a good thing.”

                “Threatening to sedate a patient in good mental condition and without pain also does not.”

                The droid fell silent, visibly irritated and acknowledging his defeat.

                “You woke up three more times in the last four days, for a few seconds, and we just sedated you again in the first one because you were crying in pain. It did not seem like much, but by your expression the doctors assured that you would be happier sleeping. Last time, last night, you asked for the patient Cassian Andor.”

                Jyn followed the droid's gaze to the tank where Cassian was.

                “We put him in the bacta yesterday morning. When you got here we took two days to stabilize him, taking care of the most serious injuries and putting bones in place.”

                “What did he break?”

                “He arrived with too much fever, because of so many hours wounded without proper assistance, had some broken and damaged ribs and bruises more serious than you can see now. You twisted your right foot, but that's okay. We leave you only a few hours in the bacta. Do not you remember that you came here on the verge of fainting, begging us to save him and not separate you? This was out of the question, but no matter how much time passed, while they took care of you, all you asked was not to take him away. You said that until you lost consciousness an hour later.”

                Jyn tried to remember.

                _{Flash Back}_

                _The end had come. Light, dust, and heat had consumed everything, including the couple hugging on the beach. But how could they still be thinking about it? Jyn began to become aware. Her eyes opened and she focused on the roof of a ship she did not recognize at first, and in the window she could see a dark blue sky full of stars. She tried to move. She felt pain. And she was lying on the ship's floor. Then she remembered! In the last second a miracle had caused the destruction to drag an abandoned and empty Alliance ship to the beach. Despite some external damage to the ship, the two managed to get in and take off in time. Her eyes searched desperately for Cassian. He was sitting in the pilot's chair, unconscious. She struggled to her feet, ignoring every protest in her body to reach him._

_“Cassian!” She was tapping lightly on his face. “Cassian! Please, be alive!”_

_He reacted with a groan of pain as Jyn touched his right shoulder, and opened his eyes._

_“We're already in hyperspace..." he said quietly, almost closing his eyes again. "I communicated with the Alliance. We are on autopilot with a scheduled route to Yavin 4, they have a medical center.”_

                _“We can't hold it until there... Stay awake, be distracted by anything, but try not to sleep until I come back!” She demanded stroking the top of his head._

_He nodded slowly. Jyn rolled over the ship, which luckily was not big, until finding a medical kit in the small bathroom of one of the rooms. She went back to Cassian, seeing him asleep again._

_“Cassian!”_

_He opened his eyes at once. Jyn helped him to lay the floor, watching him keep his eyes on the chair where he was sitting._

_“It was not for me to sit there... We should all be here. With K-2SO talking nonsense to annoy us.”_

_Jyn felt sadness at the thought of the same that he and both struggled to contain their tears._

_“None of this was in vain.”_

_“I know ... What I said on the beach, I did not say for nothing, Jyn. I'm sure your father is proud, as all our friends are, how I am, and how you should be of yourself. It only hurts... I just wanted to say..." he spoke quietly and slowly.”_

_“It hurts in me too. I wanted everyone here, even the annoying K-2SO.”_

_The two shared a low laugh._

_“We're not going to let anyone forget about them, or anything they've done, or have sacrificed their lives for all this" she told him, holding her hand, as they did on the beach, feeling Cassian squeeze her back._

_The two allowed themselves to cry and have a few moments of silence, quietly watching over all the friends and allies they had lost and thinking who would be on that ship that had saved their lives. Jyn dried her own tears and then reached out to wipe Cassian's._

_“You have to tell me where you're hurt. I found bacta, bandages and cotton.”_

_“And you?”_

_“I think I twisted one of my feet and my legs are burning, but you're much worse. I'll be fine.”_

_“I must have broken something, it hurts a lot. And the blaster's shot is killing me.”_

_Jyn took advantage of a tear on the fabric to open the seam of his shirt and expose Cassian's torso. Her skin was reddish and purple in some places, along with a few grains of sand from Scarif Beach. A deep wound was visible on his shoulder and surrounded by a burn that ran to his chest. Jyn pushed the cloth away carefully, for he moaned in pain every time she pulled, even if it had not dried enough to glue to the cloth. She asked him to be quiet, and went out again in search of water, soap and a towel, finding the items in the bathroom and returning to Cassian. She removed the sand and washed the wound as carefully as she could before applying the bacta to a cotton ball. Cassian screamed, but then restrained himself._

_“Cassian…”_

_“Sorry…” he said it so low that Jyn feared he might pass out again._

_He squirmed through all the process, but did not scream anymore. At last Jyn applied a few moistened wraps with the bacta so they would not glue to the wound for at least a few hours and bandaged the place. Cassian felt a great deal of pain, her breathing becoming out of breath and panting for a few minutes of despair for Jyn until he calmed down and was quiet. He must have been much more hurt, but that was all she could do at the moment. Jyn pulled the torn shirt over him again. She used some of the remaining bacta in her own wounds, but exhaustion took her and she only managed to deal with the scratches and bruises she could see. She closed the medical kit, setting it aside, standing up one last time to check the controls of the ship, and falling powerlessly at Cassian's side. She thought he was sleeping, but he pulled her to him, accommodating her into the shoulder that was not so bruised._

_“I'm also not used to having people around when things do not go well," he whispered with his eyes closed. "But I'm glad to have you here, Jyn.”_

_“Me too…”_

_Jyn smiled with the sweet way he spoke her name, every time he repeated it seemed to be kinder. With that thought, she also lost consciousness. And from then on, she could not remember anything else clearly, only to wake up again just before the ship landed and to talk to someone on the transmitter, several people around her repeating that she would be all right while all she could emit was a Insistent request that they take care of Cassian first and not take it away from her._

_{Flash Back off }_

“I remember somewhat.”

                “After the two were stable we put you here.”

                “When will he wake up?”

                “He is under sedative effect for a while, he can wake up agitated and confused and go into shock. Let's get him out of the bacta when all the bones are fine and when the burn goes away, that should happen in a few hours. He no longer has a fever.”

                “Did not he wake up any time?”

                “No. I advise you not to try to sit alone, you will feel dizzy after four days of lying down. I'll adjust the bed to get used to it, then a doctor will come to see you and we'll bring you a meal.”

                “It’s good not to forget what we talked about when you arrived.”

                “No sedative” the droid grunted as he pressed a button to Jyn's mattress to rise and leave her seated, leaving the room then.

                Jyn looked again at Cassian in the bacta tank, worried about how he would wake up. What if he did not wake up even without being sedated? No! He would wake up. His injuries were visibly better. Minutes later the sound of the door opening caught her eye and Jyn saw a female doctor of the Alliance come in. After confirming that Jyn was well, she removed the cardiac monitor and switched the serum that was near the end.

                “You're fine, I don’t think we'll need to put you in the tank again. The burns on your legs and the wound on your shoulder are showing excellent healing and will soon disappear. I'm going to ask a droid to bring food for you. And although I don't have much idea of what happened in Scarif... We all heard stories of what happened from Mon Mothma. We‘re grateful for what you have done and I am sorry for your friends. And don’t worry about Captain Cassian Andor, I assure you two will be fine in a few days.”

                Jyn nodded with a small smile before the doctor left. Shortly after the same annoying droid brought food and refused to leave the room until Jyn eat and drink water.

                “You remind me of one of the friends that I lost.”

                “I do not know if this is good or bad.”

                “He was annoying like you.”

                 “We medical droids have a sense of human emotions to deal with patients better, but we cannot feel them. However now it seems that I have just been offended. How could he be your friend if it was bad for you?”

                “It was not bad. Boring doesn't mean bad, just annoying. Everyone is annoying every once in a while. He was part of it too, he's gone too, so we could do it. We would have died without taking a step if he hadn't been there. I'm going to miss him, and I think Cassian will feel much more.”

                “I'm so sorry for you. I advise you to take your worries away and try to sleep for yourself. When you wake up he may no longer be in the bacta.”

                “I'll think about it.”

                The droid was gone, and Jyn did not have to think too much. She was still tired and weak, and the meal, though slight, had made her body heavy. She pressed the same button the droid had used to lower the mattress again and fell asleep looking at Cassian.

******

                When Jyn woke again she had no serum and nothing else attached to her. From the darkness in the room must be night, the only light came from a lamp on a table that had not been there before. Only then did she realize that she was in another room and there was another bed beside her. She looked to the left and saw Cassian sleeping with a mask of oxygen, serum and a heart monitor attached to him. This time she barely remembered that she would be dizzy if she got up suddenly and fell back into bed in the middle of the attempt. She felt the wound on her shoulder burn. The doctors should have applied bacta while she slept. She felt that there were no more bandages on her legs, only her foot was bandaged. She pushed the sheet from above, seeing only red spots that looked more like a simple allergy as if there had never been any burn there. The scratches on her arms also looked much better, and some were almost gone. Jyn also felt stronger and felt she could stay awake for hours now. She tried to sit down again, now slowly. In a few seconds she managed to sit with her legs off the bed without feeling dizzy. Cassian's bed was so close that she could quietly reach out and hold his.

                “Glad you’re alive,” she told herself.

                Despite the sadness of all the tragedy they had witnessed yet to be present, she felt once more something she had rarely or never felt since losing her parents and which had begun to become frequent with Cassian, happiness. She longed for him to open his eyes and speak to him. She released his hand and risked getting to her feet. She let go of the bed when she managed to steady herself on the cold floor and walked carefully to the medical record on Cassian's bed. There were no more broken bones and the burns were almost healed. Jyn smiled. There was not much to do and she was not about to argue if a doctor or droid came into the room. He kissed Cassian's forehead and lay down again, falling asleep again as she looked at him.

                “Jyn…”

                The weak voice over the unused days took some time to wake the girl up.

                “Jyn?”

                “Cassian…” she murmured still asleep and he smiled.

                Jyn opened her eyes minutes later.

                “Jyn.”

                “Cassian!”

                Finally awake, noticing the absence of pain and the bandages on her shoulder as she moved, Jyn sat up and left the bed, hugging Cassian immediately. He squeezed her back and they did not want to let go again. That moment sealed the fact that they had survived. They pulled away and joined their hands. Jyn sat on the edge of his bed. There was no machine attached to the captain.

                “What happened?”

                “You've been unconscious for five days. I woke up yesterday. You've been in a bacta tank for two days. I only stayed for a few hours and we are much better today than yesterday. I do not have much idea how we got here. I remember waking up before we landed and talked to someone by the transmitter... I remember a lot of people getting on the ship to help us. They put us on stretchers and I fainted after a not very lucid hour.”

                “They told me that you begged to take care of me first and not to drive us away.”

                Jyn smiled shyly, inevitably feeling her face warm a little.

                “You were going to die if you stayed one more second without care. I woke up with someone calling the transmitter and I didn't think you were dead because of the terrible fever you had," she said, beginning to remember more clearly.

                “Jyn... Only we are here?”

                Her sad look was a sufficient answer. Cassian's gaze showed that he already knew this, both had left Scarif with that certainty, but deep down he had hidden a trace of hope. He was silent for a long time staring into nothingness, and Jyn knew he was thinking of each of the crew they had joined to go to Scarif, as she had done when she woke the day before. Cassian sighed, he did not want to cry anymore, not in that moment. He had already cried so many sorrows in his life, but very few for people he truly loved. He smiled at the thought of K-2SO, loneliness had become a nearly forgotten concept when the robot came to accompany him. He would miss him greatly.

                “The droid that comes here sometimes reminds me of K-2, he's just as annoying as him.”

                They shared a chuckle.

                “What we will do now?”

                “I do not know... I believe the Alliance will want to hide us for a while, which I think is very advisable. Anyone from the Empire who didn't die in Scarif will want our heads to identify us.”

                “And where are we going?”

                “Some planet with allies of the Alliance, it's not possible to know for sure which one or where it is. But I'm with you all the way.”

                “I think I'm getting used to having someone around when things go wrong.”

                “Me too.”

                The day was not much different from the day before. Every now and then a doctor or the annoying droid came to see them, and they had a visit from Mon Mothma and other allies of the Rebellion that Jyn did not exactly remember the names, though Cassian had known them all for ages. Mon Mothma thanked them immensely for their mission, leaving their condolences for their lost friends and discussing the possible next steps to be taken. Cassian was right, it was not safe for them to stay anywhere for a while, they would hide on some distant planet, which they still did not know. Mon Mothma left them more than an hour later announcing that she would seek them out personally when they were released. At night Jyn quietly pushed her bed away from Cassian's. It was not heavy and luckily it did not make a sound. That hour no droid or doctor would come any more until dawn. Even after four and five days of sleep they could not deny that they were still tired and the uncertainty of their lives now did not help them at all to feel more willing. Cassian still felt pain, but he had convinced the boring droid to give him only painkillers instead of sedating him again. They settled under the covers of their beds facing each other and held hands before falling asleep.

******

                Jyn woke up early in the morning, but she did not want to leave. She had lost count of how old she had slept without someone to hold her, warm her up, and even calm her with a hug when she woke up scared of nightmares about the past in the middle of the night. Gradually she had become accustomed to not being alone again. And although she wished to fight the Alliance again one day, she was happy. And Cassian could say exactly the same thing.

                “Good morning, Stardust” a still drowsy Cassian spoke softly and kissed her hair.

                “Good morning, Cass.”

                She turned in his arms to face him and kissed him, being returned by him for a long time.

                “Let’s walk a little,” he invited.

                How not to accept? That planet was beautiful, though strange to them. A charmingly blue sky, green grass, birds crowded and sang early in the morning, small lizards crawled on the ground, and other small but lovely-looking and rarely dangerous animals, as well as a small lake nearby. Walking in the morning around the house where they lived, before the sun came up completely, was wonderful. They were living, by choice of themselves, a little away from the town that was less than an hour away. The modest but comfortable house had been ceded by an ally of the Rebel Alliance who lived on that planet. Jyn and Cassian had built a small wooden fence around shortly after arriving, about a year ago.

                “I hope someday we can come back. This fight is ours too.”

               “I know, Jyn... I also cannot imagine standing forever after everyone we've lost. We'll come back, we'll spread the hope you made everyone believe with our own hands, but not yet. I think it's good for us to stay here for a few years, taking advantage of what we've been able to recreate from the life they took from us when we were kids.”

                “You're right” she smiled as they walked through the field. “I want us to stay together for as long as we can.”

                “Until the end.”

                They exchanged another smile before Cassian kissed her and continued their walk hugging each other.


	4. A future with hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How the Empire ripped off everything from Jyn and Cassian, and how they both try to protect their daughter from suffering the same fate.

                “Say you understand” Galen begged staring into the green eyes of his eight-year-old daughter.

                “I understand” the girl replied with conviction, trying to hide from the father the anguish and pain that took her, she knew that whatever was happening could not be a good thing

                Galen hugged her tightly and it all happened so fast. Her mother fleeing with her through the tall grass outside the house, her father talking to threatening men, with looks completely taken by malice and cruelty, her mother holding her tightly as if it were her last embrace, which seconds later Jyn would discover It was really the last one, her mother telling her to go ahead and come back in an attempt to stop them from taking her father.

                Jyn saw everything. What seemed to be the chief of evil men to say something in the direction of her mother, her dead mother on the floor, the shock, pain and revulsion in his father's gaze and despair as he searched for his daughter hoping not to see her Or see it far away. Jyn did not move or make a sound. The words of her parents' insistent requests and instructions since she was much younger prevented her from feeling shock or pain at the time, she just had to move away and disappear. He awoke from his thoughts when he heard the white-robed man talking to the stormtroopers.

                “There is a child! Find her!”

                Jyn did not wait for anything else, she knew that it would probably be the last time in her life that she would see her father alive, but it would be so from now on, she would be alone. She ran so much when she can still crouched in the grass, dropping her toy stormtrooper, but there was no time to retrieve it. Jyn continued to run, run, run, until she reached a small cave between the farthest rocks of her house and raised one of them, where she could pass and hide. Nobody would say it was not a real rock. She saw the stormtroopers through a gap in the cover of their hiding place, but soon they were gone, and so Jyn waited perhaps for more than a full day until Saw Guerrera suddenly opened the lid and called her to leave with him.

                Safe inside a ship, far away from her planet, the emotional misery of that morning fell upon Jyn, and with the sincerity of a child, she wept in Saw's lap as he rocked her and tried to calm her down. So it was until she sleeps.

                “I'm sorry for you, little one. But you'll have to learn to deal with it. You're going to be a very strong woman and have a long way to go,” he whispered to the sleeping girl after setting her down on his bed.

                He kissed the child's hair and lit a lamp on the table, closing the door and leaving the room after looking one last time at Jyn.

******

                “Mama?” The six-year-old boy whispered terrified in the ear of the woman who had suddenly picked him up from the floor and held him with all her might.

                “It's going to be all right, my love," she whispered back. "You just have to remember what we always talked about.”

                Cassian felt his chest ache and closed her eyes tightly, pressing her mother closer into the embrace, trying to keep that moment forever.

                “It's going to be all right, Cassian.”

              His father's hand stroked his brown hair, making him open his eyes. His father took him from his mother's arms, holding him tight. They handed him the backpack that was always ready and carried him to the back door, opening it. The chill wind early in the morning swept through it, making Cassian wince a little.

                “Never forget how much we love you, my dear," his mother told him.

                “And that absolutely everything we did was always to protect you,” your father said. “Say you understand, please!”

                “Yes, I understand.”

                “You're the best thing that ever happened in our lives. Never forget that. So go now, Cass,” your mother said trying her best not to cry.

                “Stay hidden. You will be found by us or the Alliance.”

                The boy nodded and giving his best not to change he went out the door, running as fast as he could down in the tall grass around his house. Cassian tripped and fell with the sound of a ship landing in front of his house. He was already away, but he hid in the grass, clearly seeing the stormtroopers who had spread under the orders of the wicked man who took the life of his parents with a blaster then. Cassian could not stay. He turned in the opposite direction and ran down, ran until his small legs began to tire. He finally found the great rocks where he had been taught to hide almost since the baby. He drew one of the smaller rocks glued to a much larger one, which no one would say was false, easily getting into the cave there. And he stayed there. Cassian could see two or three stormtroopers crawl through the small rock in the next few minutes, but hours later there was no one else. Even so he stayed there and waited for more than a full day. He did not know what time it was, except the sky was clear when a woman named Mon Mothma opened the rock calling him to go with her.

                Cassian wept in silence alone leaning on a table inside the ship in which they traveled, several miles away from home. And Mon Mothma's cuddle in his head only made him cry more. The redhead sat next to him and hugged the boy until he calmed down. A few minutes later, she sat down on the edge of the boy's bed, already asleep.

                “You're safe now. The Rebellion will protect you, Cassian.”

******

                Jyn caught Hope off the ground and carried her into the house as she stared up at the sky. Something was coming and she had no idea what it might be. Cassian stood outside, trying to identify the ship.

                “Mama?”

                “It's all right, my dear," she said softly, staring into the eyes of the six-year-old girl, just like her own" You just need to remember what we taught you if Papa gives the signal."

           The girl assumed an expression of sadness. She did not want to, but she would if she had to. Jyn was hugging her daughter even more firmly as she looked apprehensively out the window. Cassian retreated a few paces, almost falling on the lawn when a huge ship swooped down from the sky and landed on the vast expanse of the place, free of houses, except for theirs. Jyn felt her heart fail as Cassian walked toward the great ship, but reassured herself when she recognized the Millennium Falcon. She kissed Hope's dark hair and placed the girl on the floor.

                “Are not  the bad men?” She asked.

                “No, they're our friends," Jyn told her with a smile.

              She took her daughter's hand and they walked outside the house, where Cassian was talking to Han Solo. Chewbacca looked at Hope with a smile and opened her arms as the little girl ran toward him. Jyn laughed happily at the scene. The alien hugged Hope, pulling her off the floor as she burst into laughter. Then he released the girl who ran to Princess Leia, who bent down to stand at Hope's height and hug her. Then Chewbacca and Leia hugged Jyn.

               “I'm sorry if we frightened you," the princess told her.

               “It’s all right.”

               “I hope everything is fine here.”

               “It is.”

              The princess can see deep in Jyn's eyes the longing to actively help the battles, but much more than that the happiness of not being alone anymore and having a family again.

                “Jyn…” Han greeted her with a smile.

                “How long, Han," she returned.

               The group looked at Cassian, Hope, and Chewbacca who ran around each other laughing. The little family very rarely received visitors, and on such rare occasions Hope was always very happy, especially when she saw Chewbacca or some known droid.

                “Jyn, are you happy?” Leia asked him as Han followed closer to the other three.

                “Yes” she answered truthfully. "I miss that, I guess I got used to never standing still, but nothing would make me happier than both of them.”

                “You can always ask the Alliance for help if you need it. Are you going to continue living well here?”

                “We are with the force and the force is with us. It's going to be all right," Jyn said, exchanging a smile with the princess.


	5. Stardust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At age 6, Jyn and Cassian's daughter wants to know why Cassian calls her and her mother Stardust.

                “Mission of recognition in progress.”

                “Don’t attack or make contact unless it’s extremely necessary. Do your best to collect data without landing.”

                “Understood.”

                “If there is a ship of the Empire may have been stolen or be an attempt at conquest or domination. Maybe a new base. May the force be with you” Jyn told the pilot as his fingers slipped through the kyber crystal on the collar around his neck.

                Along with several allies, helpers, pilots, droids, Jyn and Cassian spent nearly three hours at the base of the Rebel Alliance that Jyn was leading, in contact with a group of pilots trying to recognize a planet where the silhouette of an Empire ship had been spotted. The planet seemed to have a small population, easily controllable, or that in seconds the Empire could decimate and take the planet to itself, concerns about creating a new Death Star were not discarded either. Fortunately the ship was only similar to one of the ships of the Empire and had been confused at long distances. Even so, the Alliance would keep the planet under observation as constantly as possible. Jyn and Cassian, mentally tired, left the base and walked down the aisles which would lead to the bottom of the base, where there were small houses where the members of the Alliance lived, including them. They were alone. Cassian took his wife's hand, who squeezed his hand back and opened a smile as he released her hand to wrap around her waist and kiss her hair.

                “I love you.”

                “I know” he replied.

                Jyn laughed at the answer when he sounded amusedly convinced. Cassian was much more affectionate than Jyn could think when she met him. At that moment she just felt angry, thought about how stupid he was and what kind of weapon would be strong enough to destroy K-2SO. She missed the droid, she had learned to like him. And she knew how much that nostalgia also hurt Cassian. K-2SO was one of the friends they lost in Scarif, and probably Cassian's best friend in his entire life, without who they would have died without taking any steps toward the Death Star's plans. The two walked in silence until they reached the end of the corridor and the door that led to the outside of the base where the small houses were randomly distributed across the huge field of green grass. Cassian opened the door and a few droids who took care of security and surveyed the entire base area, both on the ground and in the sky, both inside and outside, they walked around. Stars gleamed in the sky that night. It was different from seeing them from the windows of the ships, it seemed even more magical and beautiful. The planet had a moon. When it was full it could be so clear that from inside anyone would think that it was already dawning. The two of them headed for one of the nearest houses and Jyn came in first, laughing and almost falling with the collision of the little being who ran to embrace her.

                “Mama!” Hope said cheerfully.

                “We're home, love", Jyn kissed her daughter's hair, dark brown as Cassian's.

                “Papa!”

                Cassian smiled at the girl, taking her from Jyn's arms and staring at her green eyes.

                “Why aren't you in your bed, you prankish?”

                “I couldn’t sleep.”

                “I think she was very agitated waiting for you. Not even those crazy stories that you humans tell kids to sleep have worked," said the droid who suddenly appeared in the living room.

                Jyn closed the door and both sat on the couch with Hope between them. The girl was six years old a few months ago. By the way, she had been born on the same day that the catastrophe in Scarif was three years old. To this day Jyn and Cassian didn't understand how they had survived, despite the memory flashes with the abandoned ship they encountered in the last second and memories of when they landed on Yavin 4 and were rescued and taken to a hospital of the Alliance, both very wounded and weak, Cassian didn't die for very little. When they felt their daughter jump on their bed and laughing and calling them every morning life seemed to shine within them and each day they realized again that they had not died that day, that not everything had been destroyed in Scarif. The couple had been hiding for some years, recovering their wounds and protecting themselves from being identified and found by the Empire. Then Hope was born, and some time after that Jyn had become one of the Alliance's leaders along with Cassian and they lived on a distant planet that was under the control of the Rebel Alliance. The droid they had at home was a droid taken and reprogrammed  from the Empire, as K-2SO actually was exactly like it. It had been given to them by Mon Mothma. The droid was very helpful in helping the base and also knew how to take good care of Hope when she was asleep and the parents didn’t want to wake her when they needed to go to work at the base. Luckily with the years that had passed the reprogramming had a better effect than in K-2SO and the droid was softer in its responses, although he still unceremoniously gave the numerical probabilities of everything, whether good or bad. Sometimes Jyn and Cassian laughed at the robot friend, sometimes the heart ached, Cassian had come to cry once, but he had been as friendly to the new droid as to K-2.

                “Mama, let's see the stars outside.”

                “What do you think, Captain Andor?” Jyn asked her husband.

                “It's not so late, there are droids doing security outside and I think we still have strength left, we can go.”

                Hope gave a little squeal of joy and Jyn dressed her in a warm overcoat over his pajamas before they left, followed by the droid. They lay on the grass and Cassian hugged them as the robot watched the sky. He used to say he would never understand why humans were so enamored with natural things, but he always watched the stars along with the three when they did.

                “Papa…”

                “What, my princess?”

                “Why do you call Mama and I from Stardust?”

                “That's how your grandfather called your mother, my dear," Cassian replied. "She's happy about that. And you two are as beautiful as the stars.”

                Jyn smiled at that statement, though he had already said it, while Cassian laughed and kissed their daughter's hair, who had laughed and kissed him on the cheek.

                “Why does not Grandpa show up?”

                “He lives far away, my love," Jyn told her.

                “Where?”

                “In the stars.”

                “But can he travel?”

                Jyn and Cassian exchanged a glance, realizing that they had encountered a delicate situation. Even though she was so small, Hope was very clever and it was not uncommon for her to almost leave the crazy droid asking millions of things from time to time.

                “Stardust” Cassian looked at his daughter. "Sometimes people get hurt so badly, they get so bad that even the hospital can’t fix them, so they can’t live here anymore, and they have to travel between the stars to find a new place where they can heal and to live. And this place is so far away that they end up there, hoping that one day, when we are older and wiser, we can see each other again. But wherever he is, I'm sure he's very happy, and he wants us to be happy. So don't be upset because you can't see him.”

                Hope said nothing. Her eyes betrayed that she was trying to reflect on what Cassian had said. At a young age she still had no concept of death, and the couple had decided that they would let her discover it in the most natural and gentle way possible, trying to be more truthful in her responses as she grew older. Being a Rebel Alliance family didn’t help them stay away from violence, sadness and death, but for now it was all right and they wanted Hope to have a happy childhood, a home, a family and happiness, everything that the Empire had ripped from them. When she grew up they would tell her about what had happened in Scarif, about the friends they had lost, and how the Empire had slowly and painfully dragged them into that battle since they were children, but for the time being they would just keep staring the stars.

                “Hope?” Cassian called, worried about his daughter's silence.

                “Ãh…” She said simply, distractedly looking at the bright spots in the sky.

                “I hope this does not make you lose the charm for the stars, Hope," Jyn said.

                “No, Mama. They’re pretty! - The little one spoke with a sincere smile.


	6. You're all that's left

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After surviving Scarif along with Cassian, Jyn must decide: To stay with the Rebellion or to gain the freedom that was promised to her.

                Through the crevice of the door Jyn can see Mon Mothma and Cassian discussing something, Cassian did not look happy. A few minutes later, he left, irritably, casting her a sad look as he passed her and into one of the corridors until he disappeared from sight among the droids and other people who were passing by. Then Mon Mothma asked to speak with her. The first thing she did was to thank again for the mission accomplished, though she had already been grateful when Jyn and Cassian were in the hospital.

                “Like I said, you can get out free of here.”

                “I'm happy, but I'd rather keep working with the rebels.”

                “Jyn, think of everything you’ve lived to this day. The mission is over and you are free as we agreed. Not to mention that this mission was initially disapproved and you performed it with disobedience, despite the good results. I'm glad that at least you two have returned, even with the many days in the hospital. Do not you think now is the time to finally be happy? To live and not just run away? You can live anywhere you want, the Alliance will help you.”

                “The Alliance put me through it by force and now that I want to stay they are sending me away?”

                “It's not like this. Captain Cassian Andor must remain with us as he has always been, he has a life here. And I imagine you also have one, and want to go back to it, but this time, quiet.”

                Jyn studied the woman's gaze before her, and saw the same thing she had seen when she met her, afraid of the unknown. Even the great deeds in Scarif had not been enough for Jyn to prove any value.

                “What life? The Empire took everything from me. Even the last person I had left. There's nothing for me out there, there's nowhere to turn, no one's waiting for me anywhere. All I have left is in the Rebellion. I have nothing to do with my life, why not keep fighting?”

                “Jyn, will you feel all right here? You yourself said that the Empire took you all away...”

                “That was before. I did not come back from Scarif alone. And when I was there watching the death come, I was not alone. And it was only me who had come back, or had not, I know very well what the weight of the Rebellion is, and I would continue to fight for it. I escaped, but seeing death in my eyes without running and fleeing the Rebellion was not enough to prove that we are fighting on the same side?”

                “Think about it," Mon Mothma told her before she disappeared through the door.

                Jyn ran out of the base, past the large open space where pilots, ships, droids, and crews mingled. She walked until she found an empty spot in one of the corners of the local and leaned against the wall, realizing that the ship parked there was the same one they had escaped from Scarif, and was still receiving repairs. Jyn took a deep breath and watched the clear morning sky, thinking of Mon Mothma's words. She really wouldn’t have anywhere to go, what to do or someone waiting for her out there. Even if Saw Guerrera happened to be alive, she might never have found him again, and it was already clear that it was no longer safe for either of them to live side by side. Nor would Jyn be safe if the Empire found her alone, but even with the Alliance's eternal protection, she didn’t want to be alone again. Loneliness had been with her for most of her life, and after Scarif, Jyn abhorred her again. That moment on the beach, when she had given herself to inevitable death, she felt welcomed and protected as she had not felt in years. And now she admitted to herself that it was only the Rebellion all that remained to her. She had someone. A person who had given himself up to death and uncertainty with her in Scarif, not caring what would happen. And without Cassian she would have actually died without completing the mission, because Krennic would have killed her in the tower without her even knowing it. A strange sensation took her heart again. The first was when they looked each other at the tower elevator, and when they hugged each other on the beach. It was comforting and scary, she had never allowed herself to feel it before. The Rebellion and Cassian, didn't want to lose either. Finally she could tell that she had something to live for and that there was someone there for her, and she didn't want to go any other way than that.

******

                Cassian was lying in the pilot's chair on the ship that had saved them in Scarif, staring up at the sky, not really seeing it because he was lost in thought. He thought that at this moment Mon Mothma should be telling Jyn what he had told him. Jyn wasn’t going to accept it. Like Cassian, she had been born to be a rebel, even though Mon Mothma hadn't yet accepted it for fear of accepting someone so recently arrived in the Alliance, and by force. Jyn wouldn't be happy alone out there again, even if the Alliance would protect her for the rest of her life. He didn't know how he could know about her with only a month's living, but they had lived enough for years, they had waited to die together, they had saved each other, caring for each other as they course to Yavin 4 and even when they woke up four and five days then in the hospital, they had been insistent until the droids and the doctors let them stay in the same room. But deep inside, Cassian understood how he knew about Jyn, he simply understood her because his life had been the same, though he had grossly lessened her pain in a nervous conversation once when he had informed her that he had been fighting since he was six, and he regretted it. If Cassian left the Alliance, just like Jyn, there would be nothing or anyone waiting for him outside. And even if Mon Mothma thought that the situation for Jyn was the same both on and off the base, since Cassian knew everyone there, she was wrong. Jyn would have him. He didn't understand how he had been so attached to someone he had known for only a month longer than anyone he had known since childhood. Why did his stories seem to be different versions of the same thing? He didn't know. But it was comforting and scary. He didn't want her to leave. He had lost many friends, especially K-2SO. The base would seem even more empty and sad without Jyn.

******

                “She arrived just a month ago and because we forced her. Cassian has been with us for years, I rescued him when he lost his parents.”

                “I understand, but I think you should consider what she said. Although for us a house and protection of the Alliance would be a great reward for what she did, she wouldn’t have a home, she would be alone again. And she is a warrior, warriors die of sorrow when they are removed from the battles. She may have come by force, but I could see it in her eyes when I saw her walking down the hall and when I visited her in the hospital. She offered her own life as a sacrifice for the Rebellion, and I'm sure she would do it again.”

                “Princess…”

                “As for Captain Andor. He's the only one left with her, who was with her when they waited to die, they were saved together and kept each other alive until they got here. Let them live together. They have proven that they work well together, the Alliance won't hurt at all by letting Jyn stay.”

                “We don’t want her to die. Not even Cassian. By my will he would also be protected and away from any problem similar to Scarif after everything that happened, but this became his life.”

                “Jyn knows this, and she's grateful. But why not let her build something new here? We would all be condemned by the Empire if it were not for her, for Cassian, and for all who were gone. If you want to thank her, let her choose. She would never stand still or out of all this, even if she stayed away from here.”

                “Princess Leia. I trust Jyn, but I don’t decide on my own.

           “So let me talk to everyone.”

******

               Cassian looked outside, realizing that he was not alone when he saw Jyn staring absently at the sky, clearly sad. His heart quickened when she suddenly looked up and assumed the same expression of surprise when she saw that she wasn't alone when her eyes met. He thought of leaving, but Jyn disappeared from sight and he opened the ship for her to enter, closing it then.

                “Cassian...”

                They just looked at each other, exchanging a small smile.

                “Looks like I'm leaving," she said.

                “To where?”

                “I don’t know.”

                “You can stay here. I can even teach you how to fly our ships.”

                “It's not what they think. Again, as in that day. I didn't think I'd ever see you again when I left the meeting room." She emitted the thought aloud before she could realize.

                “Me too ... Is this how it ends after all? You leave this ship and we never see each other again?”

                “Mon Mothma told me to think. I think she may even change her mind, but counselors aren't going that easy. Is that why you were angry when you talked to her?”

                “Yes.”

                They fell into awkward silence, unconsciously seeking ways to change that.

                “It was strange to realize that I do not want to be alone again. I thought I had gotten used to it," she said without thinking.”

                “Me too.”

                They looked at each other again and threw themselves into a tight embrace, closing their eyes and feeling each other as they had done in Scarif.

                “Don’t go, Jyn.”

                “I don’t want to go.”

                The captain felt tears burn in his eyes, even closed, as well as Jyn.

                “All I had left besides the Rebellion was you," she said.

                Cassian loosened her hold to look at her. His hands slid down Jyn's waist and she wrapped her neck. Slowly their lips met and the world outside was forgotten. The kiss was calm, but deep and urgent, as if they were about to die again in Scarif. Cassian took one of his hands again behind her, making Jyn feel protected and loved as she hadn't felt since she was a child or since she had last seen Saw before all the incidents of the last month. She took a deep breath and her fingers tangled in Cassian's brown hair, which hugged her tightly in response. They split up without air and the captain put a hand behind her head, kissing her forehead and laying her on his shoulder before wrapping her again.

                “I'm with you all the way, remember? I won’t let you go, Jyn.”

                There was no time to respond. Someone was calling the ship's transmitter. They moved away against their wills and Cassian ran to answer.

                “Captain Andor speaking.”

                “I figured you were there - the droid said - Princess Leia and Mon Mothma are coming to meet you. I ask you to leave the ship immediately.”

                “But why would the Princess and Mon Mothma have anything to discuss with me?”

                “With Jyn Erso too. But that is not part of my orders to contact you, sir.”

                “Understood," Cassian said, turning off and opening the ship.

                When they got out the two women were already waiting for them. The princess smiling and sweet as always and Mon Mothma with the expression that Cassian knew she always had when she was going to communicate some final decision. His heart squeezed into her chest, and he knew the same must be happening to Jyn.

                “You won. The two will stay” Mon Mothma started. “You can integrate her with your crew, Cassian. Or she can help us in other sectors, skill certainly she has enough. I believe you want to form a new crew for your missions. But not before more days of rest and until you having a ship in good condition and a new droid.”

                “Yes!” He replied excitedly.

                “Thank you!” Jyn smilled at the woman.

                Mon Mothma smiled at them and left, leaving the princess with them. Leia waited her to fade from sight to speak.

                “Geniuses difficult to convince, but not impossible.”

                “Didi you convince the whole council?” Jyn asked.

                “I had to do it. They saw your ability and everything you did, they couldn't continue saying no, no matter how much they wanted to protect you. Taking care of someone's happiness also means protecting that person.”

                “Thank you, princess!” Cassian said in all sincerity.

                “Thank you!” Jyn told her when the princess gave her a big hug.

                Leia also hugged Cassian and made to withdraw.

                “May the force be with you,” she spoke before she left.

                The couple looked at each other smiling and Cassian hugged her with such excitement that he pulled her off the floor. Finally, they wouldn't be alone anymore.


	7. A new hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mon Mothma will visit Jyn and Cassian at Yavin's Medical Center upon learning that they have woken up after the battle of Scarif, but when she arrives there, the medical droids discover that Jyn has disappeared from her room. But Mon Mothma has always been a great observer, and she has an idea where Jyn might be.

                “Jyn Erso! Jyn Erso!” Medical droids called as they ran down the hallways, checking everywhere there was an unlocked door.

                Mon Mothma had gone to visit the two survivors of Rogue One at Yavin's 4 base hospital to learn that Jyn had woken up after four days to discover she had simply disappeared from the bedroom.

                “Is she fit to walk?” Mon Mothma asked one of the droids.

                “With some effort and pain, but yes. She must have tried and found she could.”

                “How long have you last seen her?”

                “An hour ago. She woke up two hours ago, she was being watched.”

                Mon Mothma thought for a while, watching the three droids looking to look in every room and something occurred to her.

                “Have you ever tried Captain Cassian Andor's room?”

                “Different wing patients are not allowed to stay in a room for just one. His situation is worse, we took him out of the bacta tank this morning. She was better, so she stayed somewhere else. And how could she know where we left Captain Andor?”

                “Nothing is impossible for Jyn.”

                The three droids looked at each other and followed them to another corridor, stopping at one of the first doors. Mon Mothma followed them. When the door was opened the droids couldn’t be less indignant. Cassian slept with an oxygen mask, serum, and heart monitor plugged into him. Beside her, Jyn was also asleep with one arm over Cassian. Mon Mothma smiled, noticing her care not to touch his hand with the serum or the connectors of the device that monitored Cassian's heart.

                “We can’t wake up patients.”

                “But she just broke several hospital rules.”

                “Let's call the doctors responsible for both."

                “No” Mon Mothma interrupted the discussion of the droids “Without Jyn none of us would live much longer. She has already lost many friends in the past few days and has lived alone long enough. Let her have the emotional comfort she needs. I'm pretty sure she will not hurt Cassian's recovery. Let me talk to the doctors.”

                The droids looked at each other and went out, intrigued by how Mon Mothma persuaded the doctors to put a bed for Jyn in Cassian's room.

                “He is responding well after we take him out of the bacta. Let's get his machines out soon enough if he keeps it that way. And let's move her to the other bed if she gets in the way or she's too late to wake up," a female doctor explained.

                “I know she will not," Mon Mothma smiled. "I'll be back later," she said before retiring.

                Jyn had no idea how much time she had spent sleeping, but she was a little conscious when she felt her hand being gently pushed away from Cassian's chest and the next thing she noticed was that his hospital shirt was being opened. She heard something about removing his heart monitor, but when she opened his eyes the doctors and droids had left. She looked at Cassian, now unmasked, with the shirt closed again and no heart monitor, with the serum alone. She smiled that they hadn't taken her back to her bedroom and saw the sleeping face so calm of the captain. Jyn thought the only time she had seen Cassian so calm, though sad, was when they were waiting for their end on the beach. She kissed his face and lay down again. She had fled from her room when the droids had turned away, even with the immense pain in her legs, and quickly deduced where Cassian might be. She entered the first door she saw when she thought she would be spotted by a droid, and as if destiny presented her there was Cassian. She staggered to the side of the bed where there was more space, opposite the serum, and lay next to him, resting her head on the side of his shoulder and putting an arm over him, then falling asleep again.

                She checked the room and noticed a bed to her right, which hadn't been there before, wondering how she'd gotten the doctors' agreement and mostly the droids. But she didn't want to get away from Cassian, so she turned to him and slept again.

******

                Jyn woke with a kiss on her forehead and a tender hand stroking her hair. She sighed contentedly. She no longer remembered how long it felt like sleep and protection together. She opened her eyes and saw Cassian smiling at her.

                “Good morning, Jyn” he whispered.

                Jyn smiled back and Cassian pulled away a little so the two of them settled in better. Jyn lay on his shoulder and felt his arm wrap around her as she did the same, now without the wires of the monitor to disrupt it. Their feet touched at the end of the bed, increasing the feeling of comfort.

                “Good morning, Cassian.”

                They both looked at each other and smiled and they didn’t need a word at the time, that's all. Long minutes passed like this, with Cassian stroking her hair, the hug becoming a little tighter and the two gazes connected as if they were the only living beings remaining in the whole universe. It wasn’t possible for them to explain, but everything they had lived together in a few days, witnessing the destruction of Scarif and embracing each other awaiting death together had left them closer than they had been any person since the loss of their parents.

                “I can remember how we escaped, and we lost everyone." He paused, silent and sad. "But how was it then? Jyn, what happened?

                “I woke up when we're already in hyperspace, and you had passed out in the pilot's chair. I woke you up and looked after you. You looked awful.”

                “Cassian narrowed his eyes, and a few seconds later a flash of recognition took over.”

                “I remember. I remember... We lost consciousness together.”

                “Yes… Hours later, I don't know how many, I woke up with someone from the base calling on the transmitter. I begged for a medical team and managed to land the ship with the help of someone giving me instructions. I can't remember what happened next. A lot of people around us wanting to help, I just didn't think you had died because you had a very high fever. The last thing I remember is to have asked them until I faint to take care of you first.”

                Cassian couldn't help but smile at her care. He could remember well when they were fleeing. The pain of his wounds had disrupted his concentration, but that he remembered well. In fact, he'd never forget. They had kissed in the elevator. Jyn had looked at him with concern that he couldn't even walk alone. He in turn looked at her fondly, finally accepting that at some point in the last few days he had fallen in love with Jyn Erso. And it just happened. Their faces approached when the elevator went dark, and they could die by kissing they wouldn't notice. They parted only when the sound of war reached their ears and the elevator doors opened.

                “How are we, Jyn?” He asked before he could think.

                “Cassian...” She didn’t know what to say, but she knew what he was talking about.

                “I need someone else to fly the ship. There should never be in the crew only one who knows.”

                “But I’ve never fly before. I'll be more useful with guns.”

                “You landed the ship alone and we're both alive, it's a great start.”

                “I don't know what it would be like if you'd never ripped me out of that prisoner's car. After Saw left me... Before too. I had nothing to do, just survive. I had no idea that this time was just a matter of time for my father to send me that message. And now that it's all over, I really don't have anything to do with my life other than surviving as before and helping the rebellion wherever possible.”

                “Now you have,” Cassian said kissing his forehead.

                And it happened again. Both eyes locked on each other, and when they realized it, Jyn rested her hands on his chest to reach his lips. Cassian grinned at the height difference, the 1.59 of her struggling to reach his 1.78, and he thought that would be fun if they were standing and barefoot in their real heights. At last they came together in a soft, passionate touch, and he thanked him mentally for his injuries no longer existed. He didn’t know how long he had been unconscious, but he was certain he had been in a bacta tank at some point, and before he collapsed with Jyn on the ship he was sure to be very hurt and in terrible pain, even with her care. The kiss became more urgent, though still careful and full of the purest affection, the two pairs of hands clasped each other's hair in a gentle and pleasant caress. They sighed as they pulled away and kept their eyes closed and their foreheads tied together. Jyn made a cuddle with the thumb of his forehead to his hair and Cassian thought about how relaxing it would feel to sleep. He in turn caressed her cheeks lightly and Jyn turned her face, kissing the palm of his left hand, then lay on his chest as he hugged her and played her hair again.

                “Am I hurting you?”

                “No. I think the bacta fixed everything that could hurt. Or maybe I'm still numb. Jyn ... Has anyone accidentally seen us lying in the same hospital bed? This is not allowed.”

                “I don’t know. I ran away when the droids and doctors turned their backs.”

                “What?!”

                “I woke up in another room, in another hallway. I was told I slept for four days. That was during the afternoon. If it's morning, then you slept by five and I've been here with you since yesterday. How long have you woken up?”

                “A few minutes before you.”

                Cassian laughed.

                “What’s funny?”

                “The droids must be furious with you.”

                “I'm sure so, but it doesn't matter. Something must have happened while we slept. Your bed was the only one here when I arrived and you had an oxygen mask, heart monitor and serum. I remember waking up a little when they came to take it from you.”

                “Let's ask later. Jyn... Only we are here?”

                She was silent for longer than he wanted, and that was enough for his heart to tighten. Jyn felt the movement of his breath as the captain took a deep breath as he was finally struck by the certainty they already had when they left Scarif. Jyn patted her shoulder in solace and looked at him sadly. Cassian looked back at her and could see the pain in her green eyes, it was aching in her as well. They were also her friends, not long ago, very little compared to the time he knew some of them, but they were. Jyn had lived alone, even Saw Guerrera had left her, though to protect her life. Cassian too, but at least he had K-2. The loss of the droid also hurt for both. And just now that Jyn had people by her side, even though it was a recent bond that still had a lot to fortify, she had lost all, leaving only him, Cassian.

                “I don’t know what we're going to do now, Jyn. But whatever it is, I want you there with me.”

                “All the way,” she answered before exchanging a brief, gentle kiss.

******

                They spent another week at the hospital. Although the bacta had cured most of their injuries, some were still present and the doctors wanted to monitor them. No matter how much they moved Jyn, already asleep, to her own bed, when they checked the patients at night she was always with Cassian again. They lost their heads for four days with this until they gave up, especially when the readings by one of the droids found that their recovery had accelerated startlingly after both woke up and stayed in the same room.

                Mon Mothma had gone to visit them again, thanking them a thousand times for their mission, conveying their condolences to their lost friends, making it clear that Princess Leia had received the plans, and after a new set of problems involving the princess's abduction, the Death Star had gone duly destroyed by Luke Skywalker, and the two could breathe in relief and a little comforted by all the lost friends, especially Jyn. Galen Erso's mission, her mission, the Rogue One's mission was fulfilled!

******

                “So this is Rogue Two?” Jyn asked looking at the ship in front of her, very similar to the first one, but larger.

                “Yes,” Cassian walked through the interior of the ship with Jyn, looking at a package on the pilot's chair.

                Cassian opened the package and was faced with a bronze plaque with letters marked, the title was "Rogue One."

 

“In this crew fought great warriors who even gave up their lives for the sake of the Galaxy.

None of them will be forgotten.

May the force be with you, Rogue Two.

For the Rebel Alliance.”

 

                Below were the names of all of them, all, Chirrut, Baze, Bodhi, even K-2SO. The names of Cassian and Jyn had a golden glow, marking them as the only survivors. There was also a note in the package.

 

“Captain Andor, we thought this board would look good inside your ship. We leave it at your discretion where you will fix it. Think of a good place that does not allow them to be easily identified if any possible enemy sees the interior of the ship but can always be seen by you and each member of the new crew.

Mon Mothma”

 

                A pang of sadness passed over the couple as they looked again at the names engraved on the plaque. They decided to arrest it in the corridor through which they had to pass to gain access to the rest of the ship, where any of the crew could see as long as they were inside the ship.

                “And now?” Jyn asked.

                “Now... You already know how to pilot ships, you've piloted several of our ships in the last four months, learned frighteningly fast. You still can't drive around on your own, but you're quite capable of helping me, and we already have a few potential new members to train a crew. Soon it'll be all right and we'll have new missions. And we have the most important, what you brought to all of us, Jyn... Hope.”

                “What we brought. Krennic would have killed me if you hadn't been there. We'd have died if K-2 hadn't been left behind. And both he and we wouldn't have taken a step, or transmitted the data if it were not for Chirrut, Baze, Bodhi, and all the others. You did it, Cass. Made ten men look like a hundred, and I hope the hope we brought echoes forever.”

                “And go. I know it will, Jyn.”

                Both eyes locked again, and they hugged each other tightly, closing their eyes. Many seconds later they exchanged a quick, but sweet, kiss.

                “I love you, Stardust.”

                “I Love you too, Captain.”

                They smiled at each other.


	8. Chapter 8 – On some planet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jyn and Cassian miraculously escaped Scarif, but now they are lost and completely alone on an unknown planet. Jyn is aware, but Cassian is seriously injured, very feverish, and unconscious. Jyn is not doing well in trying to make contact with Yavin 4, and she fears for their fate.

                Jyn tried to calm down and ward off the panic, which must have been the only thing keeping her awake beyond Cassian's worried state. They had escaped from Scarif at the last second, but still more injured. Now Cassian was unconscious and feverish. He had fainted for the third time after instructing her on how to land the ship on the first seemingly friendly planet they encountered. They didn't find any sign of inhabitants, Jyn couldn't tell whether this was good or bad, but it wasn't desert either, nor were there giant or dangerous animals, that was good. The ship wasn't in the best condition and had fallen into what appeared to be a forest, but it was still the best shelter for them there. Jyn tried to get in contact with the transmitter, but no one answered, which only increased her anguish. After all, would they die there? They didn't even know where they were! It's worse! If Cassian died she would be alone. Again! And maybe forever! No, she couldn't let him die, she didn't want him to die, and after that kiss they had swapped in the elevator and from the moment they lived on the beach before the destruction miraculously dragged a ship close to them, Jyn knew somewhere in her heart that her desperation to keep Cassian alive went far beyond just not being alone.

                She gave up the transmitter and looked out of the window at the heavy rain that fell outside, they seemed to be in a clearing that opened up beside a large forest. She ran through the ship until she found a medical kit and crouched down beside Cassian on the floor.

                “Cassian! Cassian...” she called stroking his face in an attempt to wake him up. “Cass!” Now she patted his face. “You can't die! You can't go after all this!”

                At that moment Jyn wanted to cry, for all the lost friends, for the horrible pain that ran through her body from her own injuries, for the possibility that Cassian didn't open his eyes anymore. Jyn opened the captain's shirt, seeing the deep wound caused by the blaster when he had been hit in the tower, several scratches from when he had fallen and small burns caused by the heat of the blast on the beach. Jyn cleared all the wounds and applied the bacta she found in the medical kit. The good side of Cassian being unconscious is that he couldn't feel the improvised treatment, surely the contact of the bacta with the wounds would hurt a lot. But Jyn still had to fix the fever. She took the small towel from the medical kit and doused it with cold water in the bathroom, placing it on Cassian's forehead. She looked again at the bruises on his torso. She didn't have enough ability to gauge the gravity of the situation, but she had serious suspicions that he had broken ribs. She needed to try contacting Yavin 4 again!

                “This is Jyn Erso! I don't know where we are, nor can I explain very well the miracle that saved us, but we're alive. There are two of us. Jyn Erso and Captain Cassian Andor! He's not well! Send help! If anyone is listening and is able to reach us, send help urgently!”

                She gave up once more, only silence and the sound of the rain came in response. She returned to Cassian and dropped to the floor against the wall, feeling the sadness and fear to take her again, but she needed to keep him alive and take care of herself, that would be her strength now. She removed her jacket, not without pain, and pulled the sleeves of her shirt, which like Cassian's had some rips, and saw bruises and burning burns. She didn't manage to suppress a small scream when she applied bacta. She wasn’t as bruised as Cassian and knew that most of her pain was from physical exhaustion. She drank some of the bottle of drinking water she found next to the medical kit, letting the liquid refresh her strength a little. She put her jacket under Cassian's head to cushion the contact with the floor and made him drink some water too, being careful not to choke him. She dampened the cloth back on his forehead and watched him until she slept against the wall without realizing it.

******

                “Jyn Erso! Captain Andor! If you are in the ship, answer! We are talking about the base of Yavin 4!”

                Jyn awoke with alarm at the voice of Mon Mothma. She looked at Cassian and she wanted to see how he was, but she had to respond. She realized that it wasn't raining outside anymore and it was dark, even though the light from two moons illuminated the planet. Jyn forced herself up and noticed that she was a little stronger, though still in pain. She ran to sit in the pilot's chair and pick up the radio.

                “This is Jyn Erso!”

                “Jyn! Good,” said Mon Mothma. “Tell me the situation,” she demanded urgently.

                “I'm hurt, but I'm fine. Cassian has been unconscious since we landed here, badly bruised and with a high fever. Maybe he has some broken bones.”

                “Why did you take so long to respond?”

                “I fell asleep. I don’t know how long, but it was clear and now it's night.”

                “Cassian… Make sure he's alive,” she asked apprehensively.

                Jyn looked back, feeling the fear taking her again. She sighed in relief as the captain's chest moved and he was breathing.

                “He’s breathing.”

                “That's really good. Jyn, listen. You must be confused, but use all the strength left to keep your cool. We locate the ship and we know where it is. We'll never understand how you escaped, but thanks to the Force you're alive! There's an escort and a medical team en route now. It'll be with you in a few hours. Keep in touch, we'll be here until you come back.”

                “Understood.”

                Jyn returned to Cassian's side, feeling the pulse in his neck. The heart seemed fine, the rhythm and the sound of breathing as well. The fever had subsided, but not much. The injuries looked better, but the blaster's shot was still deep. She applied more bacta, and this time Cassian reacted with a groan of pain but he didn't even wake or open his eyes. He shifted a little and was quiet again. Jyn pulled the torn shirt over him, leaving his injured shoulder unprotected, fearing that the fabric would stick to the wound. She sat in silence for agonizing minutes of anxiety waiting for the base to say something or anything else happen.

                “Jyn…”

                The voice was low and weak, but he was awake!

                “I'm here!” Jyn grabbed his hand, turning to him, and feeling him squeeze her hand back. “Cassian...”

                The captain opened his eyes, confused, scanning the ship and realizing that he was still lying on the floor, despite the soft fabric beneath his head now. He seemed to feel pain.

                “Where does it hurt?”

                “I think I broke something.” He brought his free hand to his ribs.

                “Stay quiet. The base found us, they're coming to get us. In a few hours they'll be here.”

                “You…”

                “I'm fine, I just feel pain and a lot of tiredness, but I'm fine.”

                He closed his eyes again and Jyn worried.

                “Cass!”

                “I'm cold,” he said, looking at her again.

                His brown eyes seemed lost, as if he were dreaming, and Jyn wasn't sure if he understood the situation they were in. She let go of his hand and touched his neck, still the fever, that was the cause of the cold.

                “You've been burning since we fell here. Decreased, but not enough, so it's cold. Hold still.”

                Jyn got up and searched for blankets. She found one in the bedroom and took it to Cassian. After covering him, still avoiding the injury of the blaster, she followed until the transmitter.

                “Yavin 4.”

                “Mon Mothma. Problems, Jyn?”

                “Cassian woke up.”

                “How is he?”

                “Confused, in pain, with fever and cold, and I think he just lost consciousness again.”

                “Jyn,” the woman spoke calmly as she felt the fear in her voice. "It’ll be all right, but don’t force yourself more than you can, you must rest too."

                “I'll do my best.”

                She returned to her former place and Cassian was actually sleeping again.

                “Cass… You can't leave after you've endured until here,” she said, smoothing his brown hair back.

                No reply. She again wet the cloth on his forehead and slipped it for a while down his face, neck and chest, that fever had to go down! Jyn insisted until she felt her eyelids weigh and fatigue took over her body again. She put the wet cloth on Cassian's forehead again and lay down on the blanket, which was large enough to accommodate the two.

                “Don't leave me alone, please,” she murmured, resting her hand on him, and slept again watching him.

******

                “Jyn Erso! Jyn Erso!”

                She opened her eyes with the voice outside the ship, realizing that the sky was starting to clear outside, she must have been off for hours. She leaned her arm to lift herself, and looked at Cassian. He breathed. She touched his neck again, still with fever, but much less. The blaster's wound also looked a little better. She smiled at that.

                “We ask you to open the ship.”

                “Jyn... Be alive, please!” She heard Mon Mothma's voice on the transmitter. “Jyn, help has arrived, let them in.”

                Jyn stood up, ignoring the pain in her legs and pressed the button Cassian had taught her to open the ship. Outside she could see two ships of the Rebel Alliance and two groups of people, one of them doctors, as well as droids.

                “I can't even believe they're really alive!” Someone commented outside.

                “Are you alright?” A medical droid asked as he entered the ship.

                “I can’t tell.”

                “Do you feel pain?”

                “Take care of him first, he needs, urgently!”

                Paramedics came in with two stretchers and soon Cassian was placed in one of them. After some insistence Jyn agreed to be carried out as well. Minutes later they were in space. She refused to sleep and rest until they let her see Cassian. And only when they laid him on the bed in front of her did she breathe in relief. He was still asleep, but he seemed more relaxed and painless. She can see by a torn on his shirt that a bandage seals the blaster's injury. She finally gave in to sleep again.

******

                A soft hand caressed her hair. Jyn woke up, lifting her head from the mattress where she was propped up, realizing that she had slept in the hospital chair beside Cassian's bed. By the time they reached Yavin 4, they had gone straight to the medical center, been placed in bacta tanks, she for a few hours, Cassian for a full day and a few hours more. Three days had passed and she was fine, he was still unconscious, until now. The green eyes gleamed with tears of joy at seeing him awake, and Jyn got up to sit on the edge of the bed. Cassian smiled at her. The mattress was upright for him to sit on.

                “Cassian…” she spoke as they joined in a long hug.

                “I'm whole now.”

                “I know” she smiled.

                They moved away and the two eyes penetrated each other.

                “I never had time to say it.”

                “What?” She asked.

                “That I love those freckles on your face.”

                “Haven't you ever noticed?

                “Yes, I just didn’t find the opportunity to comment.”

                She smiled and they were silent for some time, in which Jyn analyzed him. Cassian looked good and relaxed, which made him even more handsome than Jyn remembered. No wounds or marks of blood and dust on your face like before, no fever and no pain. She had been there the whole time after being discharged the second day at the hospital, even watching him sleep in the bacta tank while the wounds slowly disappeared and the bones were completely repaired. She was also there when the doctors returned him to the room and removed the heart monitor and the serum. A droid came in from time to time to see how Cassian was and ask if Jyn needed anything.

                “What happened?”

                “What do you remember?”

                “From you lying by my side, is the last thing I remember.”

                “Sometimes you seemed awake when we were arriving at the base, but didn't respond when I spoke to you.”

                “I don't know... I just remember dreaming that Scarif could be just a dream and that none of it really happened, and then I wanted to wake up, to make sure I was still alive. You were there.”

                Jyn waited curiously for him to say more.

               “I’d never leave you alone, Jyn.”

               “I thought you were asleep.”

               “Not enough not to hear you.”

               Jyn smiled again and it happened as in the elevator, their eyes closed and their lips touched before they could perceive. A calm and simple kiss, but slow and sweet. As they walked away, Jyn kissed his forehead and stroked his hair.

                “How long have you woken up?”

                “Half an hour ago I think. A droid and a doctor came to see me, they lifted the mattress, they brought me food and water, and if I stay well I'll be able to leave soon. And you?”

                “I stayed a few hours in the bacta and you little more than a day, I was discharged yesterday. It's been three days since we arrived.”

                “You don't have to stay here, you can stay in my room at the base.”

                “I won’t leave you,” she said, holding his hand and wrapping her fingers together, watching Cassian give her that smile she loved so much.

                He moved aside so Jyn could sit next to him. She settled her head on his shoulder and he rested his head on hers, so that Mon Mothma found them sleeping hand in hand as she entered the hospital room minutes later. The woman smiled to see that the little boy she had saved at the age of six had finally found another person to share his life with. And how would she imagine it? That this person would be just the rebellious daughter of Galen Erso supposedly dangerous who had been imprisoned by the empire and still had tried to flee when being released by Cassian and K-2SO. They couldn't be happy forever, they had been born in the war, and the woman could feel their determination to fight for the rebellion. Being alone again was a risk that they would run constantly depending on the ways the future unfolded, but she was still happy to see them calm and happy at that moment, despite the pain of friends lost in Scarif.

******

                Cassian was discharged the following afternoon, with the conditions to rest and not to make an effort for a few more days. Jyn was oriented the same way. The captain was finished dressing when Jyn helped him to put on his boots and he got off the bed, approaching the rebel and pulling her around the waist.

                “Even with these boots you are still quite small.”

                She laughed.

                “It’s better not underestimate me for that, you giant.”

                “I'm not crazy to do that. I just got discharged from the hospital, I don't want to go back to it.”

                Jyn laughed graciously, and Cassian enjoyed the moment, in all the little time they spent together, even though it seemed years, he hadn't had the opportunity to see her happy and free. He kissed her suddenly, and was instantly rewarded. The two pairs of hands interlaced in each other's hair and parted only when the air was gone.

                “I'd rather do that.”

                “That's good advice to follow,” she replied.

                They were leaving when Cassian found a sealed envelope in his pocket, taking advantage of a droid entering the room to question him.

                “Mon Mothma left it here and asked us to send along with your things. She'll find them out there. She said to open the envelope as soon as possible” the droid spoke before retiring.

                The couple looked at each other and Cassian opened the envelope carefully, finding a note and a chip protected in a plastic cover.

                “I guess I know this chip!”

                Jyn was curious, but she waited before the disturbance and joy in Cassian's voice.

 

 “Do you remember that when reprogramming K-2SO the data was copied to the base and connected with it for regular backups? I hope this can alleviate some of the pain you feel for those who have lost in Scarif. We'll find a compatible rescheduled droid to receive the chip. I want you to get better as soon as possible.

Mon Mothma”

 

                “Cass, what did she mean?”

                “Jyn!” He said happy. “That... This is a chip with K-2 data as you already know. We used a system that every few hours recorded the new information that K-2 was processing. If we have a new droid, we have K-2 back!”

                Jyn smiled and hugged him, being rewarded with such excitement that Cassian pulled her off the floor as they laughed together.

                “I also miss that annoying one.” She smiled.

                “Once he's active, we'll have three members on the new crew.”

                “Three?”

                “Me, K-2 and you. I won't leave you alone, Jyn. Nor let you go back to the life you had before. You'll never be helpless again, nor risk committing crimes to survive. You'll learn how to fly ships and you're already very good with weapons. I'm sure the alliance will accept you as one of the noblest members they ever had.”

                The green eyes filled with tears of happiness and Jyn kissed him.

                “So you're staying with me...”

                “Until the end, my dear.”

                They exchanged another smile and left the room holding hands to meet Mon Mothma.


	9. Life didn’t end in Scarif

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jyn and Cassian are temporarily hidden in another planet, to return to the Rebellion very soon. Before they leave, Jyn decides to give Cassian a magical moment, to relieve their hearts of the pain they had suffered in Scarif, and reveal to him something important.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The photo of the sunset is from Maldives beach, the same beach as Scarif.

                “Where are we going?”

                “You’ll see.”

                “We never walked that far.”

                “Are you afraid, Captain Andor?” She joked.

                “No, curious.”

                “Mon Mothma and the princess told me about this place one of the times we talked when they came to see us. Next week we'll move in to take over the new Alliance base. So I wanted to bring you here before if I had a chance.”

                “Have you ever come here? This is where you were when you disappeared for two hours and you didn't want to tell me where you went?”

                “I wanted to see it with my own eyes first. You have to see, Cass.”

                “Do you happen to have a kyber crystal mine in this mysterious place?”

                “No” Jyn laughed. “It’s something that maybe... Help us move on.”

                Jyn looked at him and Cassian could see deeply into her green eyes, the pain of all the friends they had lost in Scarif, and all the anguish they had experienced before they were almost killed by the fatal wave of destruction, which ironically was what saved them by dragging an abandoned ship and able to fly to them near the shore. Six months had gone by, in which the two were temporarily hidden on another planet, while the Alliance worked to ensure that no one was alive in the Empire who could identify them. They went there shortly after leaving the hospital, where they stayed for two weeks, of which they had been unconscious for about five days after the incident in Scarif. Jyn had gained a position in the Alliance and she would command a new base along with Cassian, and they would be free to form a new crew for some missions if they wished.

                “I'll miss this place,” Cassian said suddenly.

                “Me too. Solo said he've been here before a few times. He also find this place beautiful.”

                They were on a lovely planet, where beautiful green fields stretched along with lakes, a beautiful view of the sky, birdlike clouds and a gentle breeze blowing early in the morning, with small friendly animals, though some were rude and didn't like contact with people. The planet had only a moon, but even so when it was full it would illuminate the night in such a way that it could look like day inside home, beyond the magnificent sight of the stars. And Cassian found one more item to add to the list of beautiful things in that place when they finally got to where Jyn wanted to take him. It was sad, and the captain felt his heart clenched, but it was still beautiful.

                Jyn looked at him, trying to read his reactions. Cassian stared at the horizon as if the sunset had hypnotized him. The sky was tinged with orange, mingling with the blue that was still present, and the sun began to descend toward the sea, where it left a large golden line of light in the blue water. The water that came and went on the beach was clear blue as the sky and it was beginning to become dark only several and several and several meters away from the sand.

                “I don't know what to say about it,” that was all the captain could talk about.

                He looked at Jyn at her silence and saw in hier eyes an expression of concern and sadness.

                “Jyn…”

                “I'm sorry if you didn’t want to see it again.”

                “No! It’s pretty!”

                “When we fell on that beach, I thought... That I had never seen the sea before, I only heard people talk about how beautiful it was. Well... There was a beach in Lah'mu, but we never stopped to contemplate it. We were always hiding in fear of the Empire, we never left from there. Even after I stayed with Saw and then alone I never got a chance to go to a beach and spend some time in it before Scarif. And that day I also thought... I had never imagined that the first time I saw it would also be the last.”

                Cassian thought about his own life, seeing how much it looked like Jyn's, and once again feeling bad about the argument they once had, when he'd played it in her face that he had been in that fight since he was six and she had no idea which was the war against the Empire. At the hospital she had told him about how she met Saw, and how she lost her parents. Jyn was eight, only two more than he had when almost the same thing happened to his parents and Mon Mothma saved him. He'd apologized to her that day for what he had told her before, but it still hurt him from time to time.

                “I thought almost the same thing. We flew a lot of beaches on the missions, but I never got close to a real one before Scarif.”

                “I wanted to bring you here before we left because when I came here alone I felt alive again. Look at the horizon and not see giant waves, wreckage and bodies and the Death Star. Life didn't end in Scarif. We embraced and waited for death, we went through the pain of being forced to accept it even though that moment was what we most wanted to continue living since they took everything from us, we accepted and waited, but nothing happened. Instead of death we receive a miracle. And we're here now. Every day that we wake up I remember that moment and realize again that we're alive, despite everything that happened so that we were not. When I heard about this beach I thought it would be good to keep some good memories of a beach, to see how beautiful it really is and to feel the water and sand on our feet without thinking that it will kill us.”

                Cassian smiled and looked again at the beautiful image in front of him. There was no one else besides them. Some birds flew over the water, very close to the sea, some walked on the sand, the soft breeze coming from the ocean made his hair flutter and caress his face, the colors danced in the sky and the trees behind them seemed to play with the wind. And Cassian felt exactly as Jyn had described, alive.

                “So this is the feeling...”

                “Of what?”

                “Being alive, and feeling happy about it, maybe this is the hope in which you believe Jyn.”

                She laughed.

                “And how is it?”

                “A tightness in the chest, but good and warm, not distressing and cold. As if I would overflow with happiness and not collapse in pain.”

                “I feel the same way.”

                The two of them held hands and watched the sun move closer to the water. Jyn turned to him.

                “Let's feel the water on our feet.”

                They took off their boots and left them in the sand, following as far as the water invaded the beach. Their feet sank a little into the wet sand and the feel of the water hitting their skin was almost like tickling, the water was warm and pleasant. And at that moment they were sure that this would be an afternoon they would hold forever. They ventured into the water a little more, and small fish were hurrying through it, some seaweed floated now and then, and little empty shells adorned the sand. Soon they were playing in the water like two children, running from the shallows and throwing water at each other as they laughed together like they had never done before. They picked up some shells to keep as a reminder of that wonderful moment and that beautiful planet when they left.

                They sat for some time in the sand, completely wet, but happy, watching the sun finally begin to touch the water and paint the ocean of gold, leaving it exactly like Scarif's as they waited for the end that never came, and to see that orange sun filling the landscape with life instead of the black and fatal form of the Death Star brought to their hearts at least some of the comfort they needed. They put on their boots and looked one last time at the beach, a beautiful cloud of birds crossed the sun and disappeared in the skies, just as they would do the next week to start a new life. Before they left, they thought of each of their friends and the soldiers who hadn't returned from Scarif. It was sad that they couldn't see something so beautiful together with them, but they would be remembered forever by the Alliance, the great warriors of Rogue One who destroyed the Death Star, even giving their lives for it.

                Jyn and Cassian took their hands and followed the same dirt road they had come in, trying to get home not long after dark. When they saw the wooden fence surrounding the little house the sky had already turned navy blue, the full moon shone among a thousand sparkling stars. Despite the chill because they were still a little wet, they stopped after passing through the fence to glimpse the stars.

                “Thank you, Jyn. It was one of the best afternoons of my life.”

                “It's not over yet.”

                “What?”

                “Cass, I have to tell you something. And I don’t know if it will be good for you.”

                “Jyn... Just don't tell me what happened yesterday is something that can kill you, and I'll be quiet.”

                “No. I won’t die.”

                She'd been sick the morning before, with no explanation possible, leaving Cassian mad with worry. After Scarif everything he didn't want was any threat to their lives, especially hers.

                “Jyn…?”

                “I don’t know how to say.”

                “Just say it.”

                “You are going to be a father.”

                The captain static for a few seconds as he absorbed her words.

                “What?”

                “We're going to have a baby, Cass.”

                Cassian came out of his shock at the apprehension in her eyes and finally smiled. He didn't know what to say, so his reaction was to pull her to him and kiss her at length, giving her a strong hug when they parted. Jyn lifted her head to look at him. Cassian was smiling again and tears of joy shone in his eyes. Then she can relax and smile back.

                “Jyn... Do you have any idea that you just gave me the happiest day of my life?”

                “Did you want to have a baby so badly?”

                “I never thought much of it, after I lost my parents and my life went on to be fighting for the Rebel Alliance, I thought I'd never have the time, not a chance. Then they sent me to go after you, and that turned my life upside down again. And now I'm glad it happened with you.”

                “Thank you, Cassian, for everything.”

                They exchanged a new smile and kissed again. Jyn slid her fingers through the kyber crystal around her neck, and in those moments the crystal seemed brighter, and Jyn wondered if it wasn't just her imagination, but she could feel the Force, and she knew Cassian felt it too. They entered the house before they froze with the night wind and seawater that remained in them.

******

                “Jyn! Dear, you're scaring me!”

                “The first delivery is always the most complicated, with a 95% chance of being very time consuming and painful as we could see,” the droid spoke, standing next to Cassian.”

                “Thank you, K-2,” Cassian said calm and ironic, “It reassured me very much!”

                 When they moved to the new Alliance base, Mon Mothma had handed him a chip that had been made as soon as K-2SO had been rescheduled. The chip was connected to the droid's system, and every three hours it received updates of the data processed by him, which made it possible to retrieve it by inserting the chip into another hijacked Empire robot, exactly like K-2.

                Jyn had given birth to a healthy girl only twenty minutes ago and now she was unconscious. Even when she was nine months pregnant, she insisted on running the base along with Cassian, although he did his best to make his wife do as little effort as possible. The commander of the base had gone into labor as they celebrated a successful mission of securing new allies for the Rebellion on a distant planet. Cassian and K-2 had rushed home with her. With the help of some of the women who worked at the base and who had become good friends with Jyn, the little Hope was born almost eight hours later, just before sunrise. Cassian had refused to leave Jyn's side, and had given her strength and comforted her every second. Princess Leia was about to visit the base and she had coincidentally arrived at dawn, also standing next to Jyn.

                “Captain,” she called him.

                The princess had just wrapped Hope in a blanket and the girl was still crying for being taken away from her mother.

                “Hold on your child, Jyn’s going to be fine.”

                He didn't know if Jyn was going to be okay, but the way the princess spoke was so reassuring and confident that he managed to calm down a bit, getting his daughter into his arms for the first time and being delighted. Hope stopped crying at once, and a smile appeared on Cassian's lips.

                “See, K-2... How beautiful she is.”

                The droid looked over Cassian's shoulder.

                “I don't have concepts on how to define human beauty, but she has many traits of Jyn, despite having her hair the color of your own.”

                “Yes, she looks a lot like her.”

                Hope was small, had dark brown hair and a few freckles scattered across her face, which immediately led him to stare at Jyn, to find the same freckles on her face. And the worry came back. The princess and three other women were taking care of her. They talked to each other saying that they were sure that Jyn was fine, fainting from exhaustion. And now Leia insisted that she should react.

                “Jyn... Jyn, sweetheart, open your eyes to see your daughter. She needs you, Cassian too,” the princess called softly smoothing Jyn's red hair.

                Cassian felt his heart flutter as the green eyes opened, a little confused and very tired. She looked at the princess, who smiled in response, and looked around, searching for Cassian and Hope. She saw the captain standing holding his daughter, and K-2 behind him. Jyn smiled.

                “I can just imagine the kind of horrible percentages K-2 gave you while I was unconscious.”

                “He couldn’t lose the chance.”

                “It was you who asked for sincerity about her condition,” the droid said.

                “You didn’t have to be _so_ sincere.”

                “There are some things about people that I will never understand.”

                Everyone in the bedroom laughed.

                “Let's leave them alone for a while,” the princess told the droid. “We'll be in the room if anything happens,” she told Cassian. “Congratulations, Jyn, you proved once again to be very strong.”

                They exchanged a smile and the princess got up, going towards Cassian, looked once more at Hope's face and stroked the baby's head before leaving with K-2 and the others. Cassian sat down next to Jyn and they only looked at each other for several seconds.

                “Don't ever do that to me again.”

                “Sorry.”

                He leaned down carefully and kissed her forehead, looking at his daughter again, and the little girl opened her eyes.

                “Jyn… She has your eyes,” he said cheerfully.

                He laid the baby in Jyn's arms again, and a big grin flashed across the rebel's lips, who kissed her daughter's head affectionately.

                “Lie with us.”

                Cassian took off his boots and did so. The couple watched in amazement at the little life they had created, letting their thoughts fly like so many times that afternoon on the beach of planet Earth, and again they felt alive, they felt hope to fill them again with the greatest evidence that a trail of life had escaped of the destruction in Scarif. Hope slept again in her mother's arms. Cassian kissed the little one's forehead and then stared at Jyn, they exchanged a smile and then a kiss. Jyn had the same impression of so many times, the kyber crystal on her neck shining, as if the Force congratulated them, as if the protection of her long-lost parents was once again with her.

                “We will be very happy. As much as we can, despite this endless war, we have hope,” Cassian said.

                “Yes, our Stardust, our little hope.”

                They stroked together the head of their daughter, who slept calmly.

                “I love you too much, Cass.”

                “I love you too much as much, Jyn.”

                They kissed for a long time and Cassian hugged her, allowing Jyn to rest on his shoulder as he hugged them and watched Jyn fall asleep with Hope.


	10. You are at home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Six days later. Cassian wakes up alone at the Yavin 4 medical center and is informed that he is the only survivor of the Rogue One, while at another Rebel base away from there, Jyn also suffers from the same thought.

                Cassian woke up with the whistle of a heart monitor and careful hands in contact with his skin. He opened his eyes and recognized a doctor from Yavin's medical center looking at him. She pulled the oxygen mask from his face gently and two medical droids paced the room, monitoring the serum and the heart monitor.

                “Captain Andor. How do you feel? Try to talk.”

                Cassian was confused, but he could breathe well without any difficulty. His mind began to bring him the memories of the mission, of Scarif, of...

                “Jyn...”

                His voice was just a whisper, due to the unused time.

                “You were the only survivor found. It was withdrawn by a miracle amidst the Scarif tsunami. His wounds are better and all broken bones are intact. You've been here for six days.”

                “Jyn...” he repeated, now with more force in his voice.

                “The patient shows signs of delirium,” one of the droids said.

                “Is Jyn someone who was with you? From your crew?”

                “Am I the only?”

                “Yes,” the woman answered him with a comprehensive sadness in her eyes.

                Cassian had strength to control himself and not change, he knew that any sign of physical or emotional instability would be shown on the heart monitor and it would be a reason for sedation.

                “I need you to tell us if you feel pain, if you are breathing well.”

                “I feel good, just weak.”

                “This will pass. Do you want to talk to someone?”

                “Mon Mothma.”

                The woman nodded and left the room with the droids. Alone, and after making sure the three of them wouldn't be back so soon, Cassian allowed himself to cry. K-2, Chirrut, Baze, Bodhi... And now Jyn. She was safe and protected in his arms, so at some point from the impact with the destruction he had closed his eyes and now awake in a reality that she was dead. What if she hadn't died on the impact? What if she had died alone, wounded and stunned by the deadly waves? After spending his whole life alone, and meeting Jyn, who had lived just like him, more than not being alone at that moment, he didn't want to let her die alone.

                It could well be a dream. For many Jyn Erso didn't even exist and everything had happened very fast. But the pain in his chest was real. Jyn had existed, Jyn had given him hope, had given him a reason to stay alive if they survived Scarif, but he had survived alone. Then in the silence, interrupted only by the whistle of the monitor and the low sound of his cry, he admitted to himself what he only understood when they kissed in the elevator.

                “I love you, Jyn,” he murmured through the tears.

******

                Jyn opened her eyes. She was in a dimly lit room. She tried to get up, but she felt dizzy. She looked around, finding the place familiar. She shouldn't be dead as she had expected, for surely neither heaven nor hell had such an appearance. She shifted in bed to assess her physical condition. No pain, only weakness. The rebel sat down slowly and looked out the small window of the room, seeing thousands of stars, then remembered. She was at the Millennium Falcon. Han Solo was a friend who had done between one and another solitary walk. She had been saved by a miracle amidst the deadly waves of destruction in Scarif by a ship from another Alliance base that had been sent suddenly in the hope of offering some help or at least assessing the losses and size of the disaster. She had heard something about Princess Leia being kidnapped after receiving the plans, being rescued by Han, and Luke Skywalker having completed Rogue One's mission to destroy the Death Star.

                Jyn had awakened six days later in a medical center, alone, already cured of all the bruises and the broken arm. Alone... It was the first thing she thought of every day she woke up. K-2, Chirrut, Baze, Bodhi... And now Cassian. She had him secure and firm in her embrace, so the impact of the destructive wave against the two was like being shot from a giant blaster, probably breaking Jyn's left arm and leaving her unconscious shortly afterwards, when she already remembered being alone and on the verge of a drowning.

                “Cassian…” she whispered to herself, as she had almost every morning since she'd woken up.

                And once more she felt her eyes burn and tears soon flooded her face again. Cassian had given her strength, he had believed her when no one else had done it, had given her hope, allowed her to feel as if now there was someone she would ever return to, and a reason to wish to remain alive if they survive in Scarif. She didn't want to show that pain to anyone, so she always cried alone. She also didn't want to share with anyone else the feeling she had been hiding until that kiss exchanged in the elevator. Jyn Erso would continue to be to others a bold and strong rebel capable of fighting dangers far greater than her small height. Jyn was no longer alone, and after closing her eyes in the waves she had awakened in a world where she was alone again.

                “I love you, Cass,” she spoke to herself as she cried softly.

******

                “We made contact with the other base, they may have information about other possible survivors besides you and the few ships that have returned, but it is unlikely. After leaving the Princess and Luke Skywalker with us, Han Solo left for another Alliance base for information. They still don't know that someone from Rogue One survived, but I'm sure they'll want to meet you when they know.”

                The captain was silent as Mon Mothma spoke.

                “We won't let Rogue One be forgotten. The entire Rebel Alliance is grateful for your mission. Everyone will be remembered, especially Jyn. It was a miracle they could catch you and get out in time not to be hit by the blast.  Cassian, there must be some reason you could have survived, whatever. You'll be discharged early tomorrow if you are well. I'll be outside waiting for you.”

                He just nodded in silence. The woman could notice the slight redness of recent crying in his eyes, but she didn't say anything about it. She only took Cassian's hand in hers and they shared a sad and understanding silence watching those they had lost.

******

                “Good morning,” Solo spoke without taking his eyes off the ship's controls.

                Chewbacca made an incomprehensible noise, but Jyn already knew it meant good morning. She said good morning to both of them and exchanged a smile with Chewbacca.

                “How do you feel today? You couldn’t walk without pain until the day before yesterday.”

                “Better.”

                “Why the rush to get to Yavin 4? You could have expected your full recovery at the other base. It was a relief to meet you alive, but we were not in a hurry either.”

                “I need to know a few things before I move on.”

                Han knew. Her mate was dead. Very likely. He returned to Yavin's base with the princess almost the same instant when he received unconfirmed news that a young woman had been miraculously found and redeemed at a chance on millions of the deadly waves that swallowed Scarif, but who they couldn't say with certainty, since she was still unconscious. Trying their luck, Han and Chewbacca had traveled to the base in question and found Jyn in the medical center still unconscious. The likelihood of the same having happened to Captain Cassian Andor was very low. The two bases were trying to make contact to talk about the matter, but with the already large number of dead and the number of wounded increasing by the minute, the conversation was progressing very slowly. Han had left the princess and Luke at the base of Yavin 4 and had arranged to confirm the information at the other base of the Alliance without having time to ask for information by the name Cassian Andor at the medical center.

                “What do you want to do now?”

                “I don’t know.”

                “The Alliance is grateful to those who fight for it, especially to those who offer their lives to fight for it. They won't forsake you. You don't have to go back to that clandestine life of before, Jyn. There must be something you can help with,” the pilot said, looking at her this time, but then returning to pay attention to the ship's command. “You spent most of your life alone, you saw death try to snatch you, alone too. I think it's a good time for this condition to disappear from your life.”

                “This is relative...”

                Han looked at her again, but he was silent just because he knew the answer, and turned back toward the ship. He felt sad for Jyn, but nothing could be done. Chewbacca turned in his chair to look at the girl, making a noise of compassion. Jyn looked him back and gave a sad smile as thanks.

******

                K-2SO had been reactivated through back ups and another droid hijacked of the Empire, to the immense joy of Cassian, who cried when he saw the robot activated again, something he would never understand, although he felt a great satisfaction at being at Cassian's side again.

                The droid was walking among the rebels who tried to move on after the events in Scarif. Friends were reunited, almost maddened with joy at being alive, ships were repaired and prepared for new missions, pilots and other people mingled in the large open space from where the ships of Yavin 4 took off. But that particular morning there was an immense agitation. He had heard Mon Mothma talk about the return of a great and fantastic ship from a new ally of the Rebel Alliance, named Han Solo, who had saved princess Leia from a kidnapping a short time ago, leaving her in Yavin along with Luke Skywalker, the one responsible for destroying the Death Star. The reason for his trip however was unknown to K-2, which didn't much matter to him anyway. Princess Leia and Luke had visited Cassian upon learning that he was alive, and gave him a thousand thanks for the mission in Scarif. And then they done the same with K-2 when he was turned on again.

                The hours ran and in another moment that passed by the place of landing, the imperial robot saw Mon Mothma and other officers of the Alliance receiving a young man accompanied by a Wookiee. Other people crowded in, wanting to see the face of the princess's savior and the new allies. K-2 would never understand this mad, senseless curiosity of humans either. He stood there, watching people come and go, thinking of making a report to Cassian, who was in his quarters. The captain was constantly sad and crestfallen, even with K-2 back, maybe that would cheer him up. And it was not unusual for him to wake up scared in the middle of the night since leaving the hospital, on some of those nights shouting Jyn's name.

                “I could call Cassian... What ?!”

                The droid saw people coming and going, and for a moment he wondered if there was any flaw in his programming, but soon lost sight of what had alarmed him. He walked back into the base, intending to look for Cassian, but found the two talking and happy Alliance robots on the way.

                “What is, K-2SO? You seems to be in the middle of an urgent mission,” C-3PO questioned him.

                “I need to find Cassian.”

                R2-D2 emitted a series of noises, being attentively heard by the other two.

                “What? Do you think he saw something wrong?”

                “Maybe just a programming defect,” K-2 replied. “Can be fixed. Now I must follow.”

                But before the imperial droid of this half-step, Cassian appeared before them.

                “Making friends, K-2? Finally.” He smiled.

                “Do you believe in ghosts?”

                “What?!” Cassian responded as if the droid was crazy.

                R2 again uttered phrases in noises and Cassian struggled to understand.

                “Defect of what?”

                “He was right now talking about a possible programming flaw,” C-3 translated.

                “It has no defect, K-2. I myself reactivated and checked everything, it came out perfect. And I'm sure I didn't include any programming for you to start seeing ghosts.”

                “Captain Han Solo, of the Millennium Falcon, arrived at the base. Accompanied by a Wookiee.”

                “I heard. Mon Mothma thinks it would be nice to meet them, so I came when I noticed everyone's excitement.”

                “But I had the strong impression of seeing Jyn outside.”

                Cassian was mute and instantly gaping for several seconds. His face went pale and then flushed.

                “Are you feeling all right, Captain Andor?” C-3 asked. “We can call paramedics.”

                “K-2, that's not funny,” he said sadly. “We lost Jyn.”

                “Do I happen to have a comedian droid face? I know what I saw, I saw it very clearly, and the chances that I actually saw what I recorded in my memory are 98%.”

                “At where?!” He asked in a voice that had been altered by the thousand emotions that were going through him now.

                “I saw her among the crowd of people outside, wearing clothes similar to the usual ones, with a handkerchief wrapped around her head like that time. And something shone. It must be the kyber crystal necklace she never takes.”

                “Did she see you?!”

                “I don’t think so.”

                “Where did she go?”

                “I can’t be sure, she disappeared among the people.”

                “Where’s Mon Mothma?”

                “She went to greet the newcomers.”

                Cassian hurried to the hangar, looking for any familiar face among the people, but he didn't see Jyn. Mon Mothma, Leia and Luke were talking to Han. The others were resuming their activities. He knew that Mon Mothma was waiting for him to appear, but his mind had locked in a single purpose now, Jyn! If she was at the base, he had to find her! That morning, his life would have a purpose again, or it would just get lost. Then he remembered, Jyn knew where his bedroom was! She had been there once for Cassian to get some things before they went to Scarif. He didn't follow through to the Millennium Falcon. He entered the base again and ran through the halls and corridors. Seeing the captain's abnormal behavior from afar, Mon Mothma approached the three droids who stared at the path Cassian had left.

                “There is something wrong?” She asked K-2. “We were waiting for Cassian. Captain Solo was very happy to know that he is alive, and he wanted him here to tell something important.”

                “Tell me...” K-2 addressed the woman. “Do you think droids can hallucinate?”

                “What?!” She asked without understanding, looking from the Imperial droid to the other two droids.

******

                Jyn paused and gasped for breath as she reached the door to Cassian's room. She tried to open it and she did it. She went in and looked at the place, just like last time. A single room, a bed in a corner of the wall, wardrobe, a closet and a table. Her heart clenched as she smelled him all over the bedroom and her eyes flooded again. She walked to the window and pushed back the curtain, wanting perhaps to have the same view of Cassian as he looked down at it.

                Cassian stopped panting in front of his bedroom door, it was open. Suddenly he was afraid to take the next step. What if it was just a K-2 mistake? If had Jyn never been there? If had he just forgotten the open door or some intruder had invaded his room? He walked cautiously to the door. He had to do that, and then move on, with Jyn, or carrying that sadness forever, but he would have to go on. His heart soared when he entered the room that he was involuntarily mute and stunned, afraid he might have a attack before he could take any action. She was on her back, but it was definitely Jyn! The small size, those clothes, that hand on the curtain, he could recognize it! She sighed as if a huge weight were on her shoulders, still oblivious to his movement. Yes, it was Jyn! He recognized her voice in that sigh.

                “Jyn,” he called in a whisper.

                She shuddered and turned scared, letting the curtain cover the window again. And though the room was a little dark now, she recognized him. Her green eyes widened and then narrowed with tears. No word was spoken, the next second they were clinging to the tightest embrace of their lives until that day. Jyn wanted to hug him too, but Cassian wrapped her so tightly that her hands were clamped on his chest. He buried his face in her shoulder and as her tears wet his shirt, his wet the handkerchief that a second ago was wrapped around her head and now fell to the shoulders.

                “Jyn, Jyn, Jyn…” he repeated as if he couldn’t speak any other thing.

                 He loosened his grip a bit to allow her to hug him too, and their crying became a little more desperate. Cassian didn't want to ever let her go, and it was the same for her. The two hearts beat at a frightening speed against each other. Cassian kissed her hair, stroked her back, kissed her cheek, then took her lips to his. Jyn wrapped his arms around his neck, feeling him pull her for the waist, as they kissed with even more love than in the elevator. A thousand minutes later they separated, still exchanging a short kiss. Cassian kissed her forehead and hugged her tightly again.

                “Jyn… Where were you?”

                They pulled away just enough to look at each other. Cassian dried her tears and she did the same for him.

                “In a medical center on another base. I thought you was dead until I found the princess and Luke on the way till here.”

                “That's what they told me about you,” he replied as he stroked her face.

                “And now?”

                “Now...? You're bound to join my new crew forever, Jyn Erso. And especially my life.”

                “What could I do on a ship?”

                “You're good with guns, you're good at surviving in substandard conditions, you'll learn how to fly, you'll learn about droids and Yavin 4 is now your home.”

                “What going to Mon Mothma and the council say about this?”

                “I won't take no for an answer. You're also part of Rogue One, it was all for you, and everyone is very grateful.”

                “Where do I go to sleep when we're at home?”

                “In our bedroom, here.”

                They exchanged a smile and joined in another hug. Jyn chuckled softly as she felt her feet leave the ground, but not for long when Cassian returned her to the ground and their eyes closed again as they got lost in another kiss. 


	11. Trust goes both ways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the events of Scarif, Jyn and Cassian suffer with nightmares at night, but now they have each other to overcome this.

                Jyn woke with Cassian moving beside her. She blinked a few times until she focused his face in the darkness of the room. He looked disturbed. He narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath as if he feared something. Jyn put a hand to his face to caress him. Minutes later the captain opened his eyes in alarm and stared at her, but Jyn had no idea if he was fully conscious.

                “Shhhh,”  the rebel kissed his forehead, then his lips, stroking his hair. “It's all right. I'm here with you.”

                Jyn wrapped an arm around him. Cassian hugged her back automatically and closed his eyes again as she still made gentle movements in his hair, and before he actually woke he was asleep again but now calm. Jyn took a deep breath and comforted herself by feeling his heartbeat against her, slowing down slowly after the fright, and soon she slept again.

******

                Cassian awoke to a low murmur of cry at his side. He opened his eyes. Only the little light coming through his bedroom window, which was now Jyn's bedroom too, at Yavin's 4 base, illuminated the darkness of the bedroom, but he could distinguish the furniture and the other body beside his own. He focused on her face, she was still asleep. Her sleep was agitated and she seemed to have chills. Cassian reached out to light the lamp on the headboard, worried that she was suffering from a relapse as they had left the hospital only two days after spending two weeks there recovering from Scarif. She cried again in her sleep.

                “Jyn…” he called softly.

                Suddenly she took a deep breath as if she had been startled and Cassian pulled her to him.

                “Shhh…” he whispered to her as he kissed her forehead. “All right, it's okay.”

                Jyn's fingers closed on the back of his shirt, showing that she was awake. Cassian could feel the rapid movement of her breath from the fright. He hugged her until she was calmer and moved away a little to look at her. The green eyes still seemed a bit lost.

                “We're in our bedroom, Jyn,” he told her, brushing away the strands of hair that fell on her face. “What did you dream about?”

                “With everything... It's become routine lately. After spending all my life alone it seems that everything that has been happening is just a dream. My dreams have made me relive my whole life... As if to say that when I open my eyes everything will dissolve and I will be sleeping in some cave or abandoned place, or running from someone as always.”

                For a moment Cassian just looked back at her with the sincerest understanding in his brown eyes.

                “I've revived the afternoon in Scarif. At the last second I always wake up. After everything that happened I think we're going to have to deal with this for a while.”

                Jyn knew. Since the hospital she could see him waking up startled from time to time. It had happened last night, she had hugged him and stroked his hair, so he slept again before even fully awakening.

                “Jyn... Why did you cross the crossfire to save that child? I always wanted to ask.”

                “Would you have done it?”

                “Yes, but cowardly I didn't... If I were closer and less likely to be killed maybe. But you did, even though you knew you couldn't come back.”

                “When I saw that little girl crying I went back to the day my parents left and I saw myself running to escape the ships and the stormtroopers again. Saw was kind and patient, but I spent several days crying when I went to sleep alone every night. I didn't support the possibility of knowing that another child or a mother would go through this already having so many in this situation because of the Empire.”

                Cassian gave a small smile. His respect and admiration for Jyn grew more and more. When he'd first met her, he'd only thought about how dangerous she could be after what Mon Mothma had told him before he and K-2 released her. Then he had taken her to Yavin 4 trying to understand how such a small person had given a near-mortal beating to stormtroopers and allies of the Empire, and committed so many actions practically criminal without ever being captured until that moment. Then back at the base, Cassian thought the same thing that another Alliance official had questioned, whether she was trustworthy without the handcuffs, and how to intimidate her into keeping her under control. But Jyn Erso was not intimidated. When Cassian had walked over to her that day, still in handcuffs, he had looked at her coldly and rigidly, but instead of showing fear she had held her gaze, almost as if challenging him to see who would look away first. And little by little she had shown each of them her worth, and Cassian, who had been closer to her than any other, could see what they couldn't see. Behind all the audacity, strength, strong genius, stubbornness and aggressiveness, Jyn Erso was also human. She also had horrors in her past, a lost childhood, lonely days, and she also felt fear and sadness, though she never let herself be knocked over by any of it.

           After they had almost died in Scarif, she still had the strength and reason to help him drive the ship on which they fled under his instructions, since he could scarcely stay awake, and after they were sure she still found the strength, he didn't know where, to lay him on the ground and stay awake taking care of him and make sure he wasn't dead. In his mental confusion between consciousness and faintness, Cassian could sometimes hear her suffer with the fatigue and pain of her own wounds, but she was still awake, monitoring his critical condition as best she could with just a medical kit and a blanket, asking him not to leave her and to stay with her, that the two had to return to Yavin 4. Cassian had lost consciousness many times until they reached the base, and by then he knew that Jyn must have slept very little, when exhaustion forced her to close her eyes and he could feel the heat of her lying beside him on the floor. He was pleased and relieved to wake up at the hospital with her at his side days later.

                “Cass... Do you think it's going to be all right?”

                “Set all right.”

                “I don’t know. What a stupid question I asked...”

                “It wasn't. We're both still so confused that I thank K-2 for insisting on knocking on the door in the morning or we'd be late for everything. I don't know, Jyn.

                “But the Death Star is gone, you have a position in the Rebellion now. Now we have hope, the Alliance has a chance. After so many years and so many times that I escaped dying by a thread, I stopped thinking so much about the future all the time. Sometimes I just want everything to be okay now.”

                “And is it?”

                Cassian stared at her for some time again, hypnotized by her clear eyes. Then slowly and affectionately he sealed their lips, then returned to look at her.

                “Yes,” he told her.

                Jyn smiled and cupped his face with her hands, stroking it with her thumb. She returned the kiss and looked at him again.

                “So we could try to sleep again.”

                “I agree.”

                Although the two weeks at the medical center they were still weak and tired. Cassian pulled her onto him, arranging Jyn lyning on his chest, leaving her in a good position to hug him. His arms wrapped around her too, and he felt the rebel sigh. He played with her now loose hair while he murmured to her, "You're not alone anymore, I'm here with you," until the slow rhythm of the breath denounced that she slept calmly. Cassian smiled and also closed his eyes, then slept with the warmly warm weight on top of him.


	12. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their daughter is only ten years old, but she already shows the spirit of a true rebel. During a moment of fun at the beach, Jyn and Cassian decide it's time to tell Hope what really happened in Scarif.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This collection of one shots already has 43 chapters. Unfortunately it's just me translating for English, so it takes a while for new chapters to appear here. This is the last of this year. I hope you enjoy it and continue to follow the story. I thank everyone who has accompanied and commented here and wish everyone a Happy New Year! =D <3 <3 <3

                “K-2, go home and see how Hope is.”

                “Humans still have a lot of worry for a ten-year-old child because she stayed home alone for a few minutes. I'm sure she didn't exploded the house or do anything dangerous. She seems like a sensible child, sometimes more than you two. Except when she decides to follow in Jyn's footsteps.”

                “After thirteen years you're still incredibly sweet and discreet,” Jyn answered earnestly and sarcastically.

                “My programming is like this. And I don't see any problem with this. The chances of me not being an effective droid if I didn't provide the real probabilities would be 99%.”

                “K-2,” Cassian called. “I know she didn't blow up the house or did anything, but please, go see her. We both lost our parents very early, Hope has us and you, and she loves the three of us. As long as we can keep our eyes on her, let's do it, even if she's twenty.”

                “I'm not avoiding the order, just commenting. If you asked, I will.”

                The couple watched the droid leave, closing the door behind him and leaving them completely alone in the room where they commanded the missions.

                “No matter how much I update it, he'll never change...”

                “He wouldn't be our K-2 if he lost it,” Jyn replied. “And it's fun to corner him sometimes,” she smiled.

                Cassian laughed softly and pulled his wife by the waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck and sealed their lips in a sweet, long kiss. As the seconds passed they hugged each other harder and now Cassian's hands were on her back and behind her head as hers rested on his face. The kiss deepened and they almost forgot that they weren't one. When they ran out of air they separated briefly and soon one of the two began a new contact. Even after thirteen years that they hadn't died in Scarif for seconds, they still loved each other in the same way, indeed even more. They ended the kiss when the extreme and urgent need for oxygen arose. Jyn closed her eyes and rested her head on the captain's chest, feeling him kiss the right side of her forehead and then her hair, and hug her as they took a breath together.

                “I love you,” he whispered.

                “I know,” she replied softly with a smile.

                A few minutes passed like that until they heard the sound of the door being opened and they moved away. Hope ran in and laughed. The long dark brown hair loose, the joy shining in the green eyes and the smile leaving the freckled little face even more beautiful. She ran to both of them. Cassian caught her in the middle of the race, listening to the girl laugh and put her in his arms, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Jyn did the same and exchanged a smile with her daughter.

                “What’s so funny?” Cassian asked.

                Hope just stared at the open door. Jyn and Cassian looked at each other as they heard murmurs of astonishment from the other rebels walking outside. Cassian put Hope on the floor and he was planning on checking out what happened when K-2 showed up with a pink ribbon tied around his head, with a bow on the side, and paper hearts stuck in his armor. The droid closed the door and didn't say a word, just stood there as if there was nothing abnormal, which greatly increased the comical tone of the situation. After a few seconds of silence Cassian and Jyn tried, but they couldn't avoid a series of laughter. When they were able to control themselves, K-2 spoke.

                “I did what you told me. I don't see why it sounds funny, but it's best to take these cuts off me before it damages the metal.”

                Cassian laughed again, going to remove the six paper hearts glued to K-2 and untie the ribbon on his head.

                “Now can you explain to me how a child less than a meter and a half has reached the head of a droid with more than two meters?”

                “I think your concern was justified, and so was my opinion. She climbed the furniture again and managed to catch me in a moment of luck.”

                “Hope,” Jyn looked earnestly at her daughter. “What have we said about taking risks unnecessarily?”

                “But mama... Don't you live by saying that it was all the risk you ran that kept you alive for so long?”

                “I repeat that the child is more sensible than the two of you at the moment. And judging by the past I believe Cassian is in a better moral position to rebuke her.”

                “The day you have a child or I save you from being killed again we talk about it.”

                “My body can be damaged, but I am recoverable if my back-up files are well monitored.”

                “Thirteen years have passed, there're new ways of generating compatibility of Imperial droids with Alliance droids. We can put you on a droid smaller than Hope next time.”

                “Cassian wouldn’t let you do that. And I'm much more useful this size.”

                “And smaller than me, he couldn't get me up on top. It's so fun when he does it!”

                K-2 shut up when Hope sharply broke the mood of the argument when he was winning. Cassian tried to restrain himself, but he laughed. He had to admit that most of the time it was fun to see Jyn argue with K-2. She was the person he most liked to contradict, for some reason not entirely clear. Cassian thought that the great loyalty of K-2 could make him feel betrayed by Cassian for him love Jyn so much. K-2 couldn't understand human feelings, but his loyalty was unbeatable. And yet he was always willing to take good care of Hope and even learned to treat Jyn well without Cassian ordering him to do so.

                “Your mother is right both ways, my dear,” Cassian said to the little girl. “All the risks we ran kept us alive, but we did it because we had no choice.”

                “Running danger without the situation requires may not be good. And we train you almost every day, you even know how to use a blaster for extreme needs, you don't have to risk climbing the furniture.”

                “Okay,” the girl said a little annoyed.

                They didn't quite know where Hope had that taste for staying in high places, but they both saw it as an inheritance of their own lives. Even at the age of ten, Hope had the born spirit of a rebel, who would go until the end to fight for the Rebellion and protect the weakest, and the adrenaline rush that took her when she was at the top showed only that. They both feared for her future, but they were there for her as their parents had never been to them and they believed that the Force would protect Hope, as it always protected them.

                “We'd better go. It's all right for today and we're going to walk for a while until we get there, Jyn.”

                “You’re right.”

******

                K-2 stood at a distance from the water, just watching the family. Cassian held his daughter in his arms as he entered the sea, with Jyn following them. The tide was low at that time of day and it was the perfect time to enjoy the place. They had moved to that planet to lead a new Alliance base seven months before Hope was born and they used to visit the beach when they had some free time. It was always a symbolic way for them to feel alive and remember everything that happened until they got there.

                Hope's long hair was tied in two braids, and she was already incredibly like Jyn, she was so much like Jyn as a child that the rebel could almost see herself again the day her whole story began when she was only eight. The three of them sat on the submerged sand. The water coming almost to Cassian's waist, a little higher in Jyn and Hope, but nothing risky. The water was clear, warm and agreeable, like the beach they had visited on planet Earth the day Jyn had revealed she was pregnant. They had come back there two more times before they left the planet.

                “Papa, why do you look so much into the sea-line every time we're here?”

                The couple looked at each other. They knew that Hope had long suspected that there was something they didn't tell and that someday she would ask that question. It was time to respond.

                “Do you remember how I met your father?”

                “I think so.”

                “And what did we tell you about Rogue One?”

                “Yes. You always talk about the story of Rogue One, you escaped for seconds from Scarif, but what does the beach have to do with it?”

                “You’ll know now, Hope,” Cassian told her.

                The child stared at her father, instantly discovering that story wasn't very happy, but she was willing to listen. She remembered that they had told her about Bodhi, the Rogue One pilot, he had left the Empire and joined the Alliance a few days before. Chirrut and Baze were the best friends in the world and Chirrut believed in the Force more than any Jedi. And along with them were her parents. K-2 had been recovered through file copies months later.

               “Before we got out of Scarif, we were on a beach, looking like that,” Cassian said. “I had been hit by a blaster, taken a big drop and even broken a few bones. If it weren't for your mother helping me walk, I'd have stayed in the tower from which we transmitted the data.”

               “He couldn't stand his feet when we got to the beach, and he fell. I couldn't stand walking either, and I sat on the sand beside him. Many soldiers were fallen to where we looked, ours and of the Empire, almost all of them already dead. There was no way out of there. The Death Star appeared on the horizon and a giant wave along with it, full of debris. When the ray of the Death Star mingled with it, it felt like we're inside a furnace the more the wave was approaching. We kept looking because there was nothing else to be done. The sun was setting and leaving the sea golden. It was beautiful. We were at peace, but seeing that was also very sad. We hold each other and we hope everything is over. But when it was a few meters before the wave reached the beach an abandoned ship was dragged near us by some miracle, perhaps the Force. I was dying of pain, but I got up with your father and we're able to go to this. We got in and got lift off just as the water swallowed the place where we were sitting.

                “It was one of the most beautiful visions we had, but it was also the saddest. We almost died anyway. I fainted many times until we got to Yavin 4 and we spent weeks in the hospital.”

                “And why do you keep visiting the beach if it's a bad memory?”

                “It’s not bad, love,” Jyn told her. “Because it reminds us that we're still alive, and it reminds us of our friends.”

                “So that's why the first time you went to a beach was a very sad day?”

                “Yes. One day you'll know what it really means for us.”

                Hope was silent, her distant gaze denouncing that she was reflecting on what she had just heard.

                “But the first time you went to a beach was the happiest day of our lives,” Cassian told her, wanting to take away her thoughts from any sadness.

                “I can't even remember when.”

                “Not really, because it was the day your mother told me we were expecting you,” the captain said with a smile.

                “It was here?”

                “No,” Jyn said. “It was a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. On a beautiful planet called Earth. It was there that we hid for a while before we came here.”

                “I want to meet this planet.”

                “Maybe one day? You're still going to grow up and live a long life,” Cassian replied. “It was funny when K-2 was reactivated and saw your mother being five months pregnant.” He stopped his narrative for a few seconds to laugh. “He congratulated me with no emotion whatsoever, one of the things he said is that he just hoped even though the baby was a girl she wouldn't pull on Jyn's temper,” he finished in laughter, making them laugh with him. “But the Force didn't meet his desire.”

                They laughed again and looked briefly at K-2, who was still staring out at the sand of the beach, almost empty, except for them and one or another person in the water or the sand strip. They got up and walked some more by the water. Minutes later they could almost feel that day on Earth again, for they were running and laughing as if they were all children, throwing water at each other.

                “I'll never understand why humans like to play in the water so much. If they get wet for no purpose, they need to bathe to remove the salt from their skin and change their clothes. So much work to behave as badly programmed droids into the water. As Cassian explains, I'll never understand,” K-2 remarked to himself as he watched the family have fun at sea.

 


	13. Moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the battle of Scarif, they hid, to recover and to guarantee that the Empire wouldn't come after them. Now Jyn is pregnant. And soon they'll go to another planet to lead a new Rebel Alliance base. When K-2SO is reactivated, he realizes that something is different and he'll have to learn to deal with it.

                The half-open window allowed the soft, pleasant breeze of the night to enter the bedroom. The couple were settled in their bed, Jyn lying on top of Cassian as he stroked her back and her hair. One of her hands rested on his left shoulder, the other stroked his face.

                  “I’ll miss being like this with you in the coming months.”

                  “It'll be worth it, Stardust. And it’ll pass so fast that neither will we suffer so much.”

                  Jyn laughed.

                  “Galen, if it's a boy.”

                  “And Hope, if it’s a girl.”

                  Cassian reached out to pull the sheet over them and caressed her again. Jyn closed her eyes and then her breath showed that she was asleep. Her weight on him was light and didn't bother him. Although she had already gained some weight with two months pregnant, Jyn was still a small and short person. This thought always made him laugh, think of how someone of that size alone managed to beat up several stormtroopers and allies of the Empire at the same time. He kissed her light brown hair and stroked her sleeping face.

                “I love you, Jyn,” he whispered before sleep.”

******

                After six months of hiding in recovery and while the Rebel Alliance made sure no one who could identify them for the Empire was alive, Cassian and Jyn were finally accommodated in the new base of the Alliance that would be commanded by them, although they continued leaving on missions from time to time.

                K-2SO had been reactivated by Cassian the day before. And after the captain wept with emotion as he reviewed his friend _live_ again, which K-2 would never understand, though he was immensely pleased to be in Cassian's care again, the two and Jyn talked for hours about the last six months and what happened in Scarif. The robot had no emotions, but he was able to feel uneasy as he noticed the sadness in the eyes of the two humans. But there was something they weren't giving him. In contesting Cassian hours later, the captain told him only that he would tell them soon enough. Then he tried to corner Jyn to find out what bothered Cassian, but he only got one more conversation full of ironic barbs exchanged with the rebel, and in the end she smiled and said she had missed it. How could anyone miss something unpleasant? Humans were very strange.

                Despite being jealous, K-2 wasn't surprised to discover that they now lived, slept, worked, fed and did everything together. He saw no problem getting quickly expelled from the room when he was going to speak to Cassian during the night, he never stayed with Cassian all the time at all. Normally while the captain slept he was commanding the ship or working on something at the base or plotting odds. The planet they stood on now looked much friendlier than Yavin 4. There was green grass around the base and some inspections proved that the areas around were safe to transit. Sometimes after some mission Cassian and Jyn left the base to walk outside, away from the base, from the houses where all those who worked there, away from everyone's eyes, just them. Sometimes K-2 went with them. The droid further suspected that there was something they didn't tell him when the women who worked with Jyn began to show excessive care for her and when he watched the couple from far away lying on the grass on a sunny morning. Jyn supported at least half of her weight on Cassian, and the two were laughing at each other like two idiots. In the next instant Jyn leaned over Cassian and they were kissing and bringing their hands together in a hug. Hours later the robot tried to talk to the captain when they were home.

                “Cassian.”

                “What?”

                “Why so much delay? I know what's going on.”

                “What you mean?”

                “You and Jyn, I saw you outside the base briefly. Although I don't understand why, since we left for Scarif I calculate that the probability of this happening was 90%. And six months and a few weeks were more than enough for that.”

                “I thought you'd already noticed.”

                “And why did you tell me that we would talk later?”

                “Me and Jyn were thinking of how to tell you.”

                “You don't need to say anymore, I already know.”

                “Is not it.”

                “What then? Why don’t you just say so? No matter how.”

                “You know how to ruin the climate,” Jyn commented as she entered the kitchen, but with a smile.

                “I am a droid, I have no emotions.”

                The couple was quite as the droid watched Jyn silently. K-2 couldn't generate facial expressions since he was a droid, but Cassian would have thought he was surprised or at least curious. It was the first time he had ever seen Jyn wearing a dress, although she still wore his usual heavy boots. The fabric was light and beige, with sleeves that went up to the elbows, and the skirt came up just below the knees. But it wasn't any of that that caught the attention of K-2, she seemed to have gained weight, which made the droid immediately deduce what could be happening. Why were humans so shy to reveal these things? In the days before Jyn had kept on wearing her usual clothes, which always consisted of at least two layers of fabric, making it difficult to perceive any physical change.

                “We don't know what you're going to think about it and I know we've never had much contact with children,” Cassian told the droid as he sat down in one of the chairs.

                Jyn sat next to him and the droid realized that under the table they were holding hands. He simply waited whatever the situation his commander wanted to communicate.

                “And that can keep us away from some missions from time to time,” Jyn said.

                “What could children have to do with the missions? I begin to think that my deductions are correct.”

                “Kay... Jyn is pregnant.”

                “I just noticed. How long?”

                “Almost three months for our bills. Since we left planet Earth.”

                “Therefore the excessive care of the other rebels with her. Why did you postpone so much? You could have just told me and that's it.”

                “You really know how to put an end to the magic of things,” Cassian laughed, after all, the droid was not to blame.

                “How are we going to deal with this?”

                “Let's avoid dangerous missions and do everything possible so that Jyn doesn't have to push herself so hard until the baby is born. I confess that after that it's a mystery to us too. We're only going to live one day at a time.”

                “Do you really think Jyn will be quiet for another six months and a week? If the child is similar to her, she'll be born knowing how to shoot a blaster and attack anyone she doesn't like.”

                Cassian tried, but he couldn't help himself and he giggled as Jyn stared at him, not knowing if she was annoyed or if she laughed with him. She could not disagree completely.

                “I don't have to be in constant rest all the time, just avoid activities that require a lot of physical effort as time goes by. And after two months I can gradually resume my normal routine.”

                “It's strange for me to say that, but if you're happy I am too. Is that going to be goodt, Cassian?”

                “Wonderful, Kay!” He replied smiling.

                “Congratulations to both of you.”

                “It's weird to see you talk like a human,” Jyn joked him, but she was happy.

                Cassian was beginning to think that this had been a sort of salute between them. K-2 was arguing with everyone, but Jyn was his favorite target because his extreme loyalty to Cassian made him feel a bit betrayed by the captain loving Jyn so much, but ever since he was reactivated he had learned to respect her without even Cassian asked for it. And Jyn always argued back, but they could rarely see anger in her green eyes, she seemed to face it as a fun time pass.

                “How can I be helpful in the new situation?”

                “You can help Jyn carry heavy things when I'm not around and even help her walk in a few months. She'll tell you when she needs help.”

                “And when the child is born?”

                “This will still be a long time. Not even we both know how to deal it yet, we'll reconcile it after the baby is born,” Cassian told him.

                “Everything will unfold naturally, you don't have to be processing data on it if it hasn't already happened. I'll continue working normally as long as I can, I'll only need help from time to time.”

                “It's in my programming to calculate everything in the smallest details in advance. But I'll try to follow your logic. Is there anything else to be said?”

                “No,” Cassian replied.

                The droid was about to retreat, but he came back and stared at them again.

                “I never imagined I would see this happen so soon, Cassian. Wars against the Empire and the constant need for dangerous missions don't allow time for new families to emerge. You'll probably have a daughter on a safe base, that's fine.”

                “Daughter?”

                “How can you know it's going to be a girl?” Jyn asked.

                “I've been with Cassian long enough to have done an analysis of his family genetics according to his narratives. There's a 75% chance that you have raised a girl,” the droid simply said before leaving.

                Jyn and Cassian looked at each other, curious to know in six months if K-2 was right. Cassian looked at a small white mark near Jyn's right knee, one scar, one more. Pretty small, but it was a deep wound enough to make a mark. They had so many that they were still asking each other about the origins from time to time. Jyn stared at the spot he looked at and stared at him.

                “Everyone looks at our various scars and they think they were all done in combat, without even remembering that we had a childhood before everything was stolen from us.”

                “So you've had this since you were a kid?”

                “I was five years old. I was jumping on top of my bed and I fell right on top of a toy ship my mother had made for me with scrap metal. The ship wasn't much damaged, but it left a mark on me. It hurt a lot at the time, I was scared when it started to bleed, but my father held me and my mother took care of me. I was unable to walk well straight for two days, it went deeper than it seemed to me at the time. Mama was worried because it was she who made the ship, but it was all my fault, it wasn't a dangerous toy. I still played with that ship for two years until it was worn. What about you, Cass? What do you have to remember the last years we had?”

                The captain smiled as he remembered.

                “I was seven years old. I'd like to hide. My parents always said that if I saw stormtroopers I should hide and run away. Although this did n't help when it happened, I could only run and walk away while my parents were dead and our house caught fire. One day I was running and hiding behind stones and crates behind our house, but I stumbled as I ran from behind a crate to a rock and I fell. I managed to soften my fall by using my hands, but I badly injured my arm on a dry branch on the ground.”

                Cassian raised his right arm and Jyn could see a small mark beside his hand as if the skin had been scratched, a tone a bit darker than the skin around it. Jyn had already felt that scar, but she hadn't asked about it yet and she was planning on doing it at the first opportunity.

                “It's small, but it hurt a lot. My mother hugged me and my father took care of me. I'll never forget the sadness in each other's eyes when I said what I was doing. But the two of them hugged me that day and we stayed like that for several minutes. It was one of our best moments. After all I'm glad the bacta leaves some scars once in a while.”

                “Me too.”

******

                “Are you feeling alright, Jyn?”

                “Yes,” the rebel replied with an enlightened smile. “After the baby is born, the malaise disappears.”

                “That's good,” the droid replied as he watched her. “The medical droids warned us that you might feel pain for a few days.”

                “I’ve not felt any pain since yesterday.”

                She was sitting on the bed with her legs stretched out as she nursed little Hope for five days. The towel that covered Jyn left only the baby's feet visible. She would shake them now and then in movements without much coordination and K-2 watched curiously, as well as he demonstrated interest in monitoring and recording data on the evolution of Jyn's pregnancy, especially when at five months the baby began to move.

                “By the age of three months she won't have much control over her own movements. That's what one of the medical droids told me.”

                “She looks a lot like you.”

                Jyn took some time wondering if this was a hint or not, and just laughed, putting the thought aside.

                “Cassian also said that. Why were you so interested in recording data? We only instruct you to help me.”

                “Cassian said that I should have full attention and care about you when he was not and record information facilitated the process. If this happens again in the future, the information may be useful.”

                K-2 left the bedroom and a few minutes later Cassian entered. He sat next to Jyn and smiled at each other before exchanging a quick kiss. After Hope was fed, Jyn let Cassian hold her. The baby's green eyes looked curiously at her parents. Freckles adorned her face, just like Jyn's, she could be Jyn's perfect clone, except for the color of her hair, brown as Cassian's.

                “She's pretty,” he said for the thousandth time, in wonder. “As pretty as her mother.”

                “And as graceful and sweet as her father.”

                Cassian kissed her again and Jyn laid on his shoulder. That way they stood for long minutes watching Hope until the little girl slept again.

******

                Cassian ran among the people scattering in the takeoff area at the base of the Alliance that was commanded by him and Jyn, heading toward the ship that had just landed. The green-eyed girl smiled at him and ran toward him. Cassian caught her in a tight embrace full of longing, even though she had only been on a mission for three weeks. He kissed her cheek and turned away to look at her, but she was the first to speak.

                “Where’s mama and Galen?”

                “Coming. She was giving final orders and told me to come first. Galen was sleeping in that chair in the control room.”

                Hope smiled, remembering when she was six and still had no idea what the Alliance meant. Now with twenty-two she was one of the youngest to fly the ships and she did as well in battle as her parents.

                “If it weren't for the color of your hair and if I didn't know that Jyn is in there I would have confused you with her. Your mother was just like you are now when we first met. Although she hasn't changed practically anything until today.”

                They exchanged a smile. Jyn appeared carrying the youngest child in her arms and being followed by K-2. Hope kissed the face of her brother, who was still sleepy, who smiled at her and then he was turned over to his father. Galen looked like a reduced version of Cassian, but with light brown hair and freckles. Finally, Hope and Jyn locked themselves in a strong, long hug. The rebel kissed her daughter's face and the two exchanged a smile.

                “Welcome, Hope,” K-2 interrupted the moment.

                “It’s good to see you too.”

                “I'm sorry we didn’t come sooner,” Jyn told her.

                “It’s all right.”

                “The mission couldn't have been better. This afternoon we're going to be just us,” Cassian said.

                “Let's go to that beach?” Galen asked.

                “On that beach?” Hope asked excitedly.

                “Yes,” Jyn replied, smiling.

                Hope smiled as the sweet memories of a certain day came to her mind when she was ten and was running down that beach with her parents the same day she discovered what really was the story of Rogue One.

                “Good,” she replied cheerfully.

                “Good,” Jyn said in the same tone.


	14. They were there for each other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In those little moments where things got bad, they were there for each other.

                “Jyn, take control of the ship.”

                “But I never took command. And we're entering an area of turbulence. K-2 can make us safer.”

                “I know. But I need to fix this part until we get to the base to repair or replace, we'll be bad without it working. And I need K-2 helping,” he said as he moved into an open compartment of the ship full of circuits. “It was for this piece to endure quietly until we returned, but it must have overheated with the energy we need to use to escape the Empire's troopers.”

                K-2 withdrew to get tools and Cassian left what he did to approach Jyn, he took her face in his hands and kissed her quickly.

                “My dear, I know you've never flown a ship in the main command before, but I know you know how to fly, I trained you myself, and I know you can. I need you to do this for us now, Jyn.”

                But there was still some insecurity in her eyes. Of course, they were entering a turbulent area and half an hour ago K-2 had indicated that the chances of dangerous debris on the way were 50%.

                “Remember when Han taught you to shoot with the weapons of the ships and also to defend them?”

                She nodded.

                “It's the same thing. But it'll divert objects drifting in space rather than explosions. I'll be here less than three feet from you. I'll try to release K-2 quickly.”

                “I’ll do it.”

                “Good.”

                “Good.”

                They smiled at each other and exchanged another quick kiss. Cassian went back to working on the circuits, and Jyn sat in the pilot's chair, checking the controls and taking the direction of the ship. Cassian watched her for a moment, she was doing well. K-2 came back carrying a toolbox and left it on the floor next to Cassian. Jyn jerked away from debris which headed toward Rogue Two, making the ship shudder for a few seconds.

                “Are you sure we're safe?” K-2 asked Cassian.

                “K-2...” he replied. “If it were just the two of us, we could be in trouble. And Jyn is doing well.”

                The droid shrugged and Jyn chose to ignore it.

                “If you say...” K-2 replied by handing Cassian some piece.

                “Almost there ...” the captain said to himself. “Kay, everything is in order. Take control of the ship. Jyn, take the position of co-pilot.”

                The two obeyed and ten minutes later Cassian finished repairing the problem. The zone of turbulence would be behind in a few moments and with luck without new obstacles in a collision course. They would soon be safe again.

                Hours later Jyn entered the bedroom to sleep for a few hours before landing on Yavin 4. Cassian had just come out of the bathroom and he was sitting on the bed wearing only pants and drying his hair with a towel. Jyn closed the door and sat next to him. Sensing the mattress sagging beside him, he hung the towel on the bunk bed ladder and stared at her.

                “Don’t care about K-2, you were perfect today.”

                “I've gotten used to it.”

                Jyn took the towel back and began to make circular motions to dry his hair. Cassian closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation. When it was as dry as possible, she set the towel aside and combed his hair with her fingers, ending a caress on his face and the two eyes fixed on each other. Soon they were with closed eyes and immersed in a kiss. Jyn rested one hand on his chest, sighing with skin-to-skin contact. They lay flat on the mattress and Cassian laced his fingers through her light hair, playing with the hair strands. They parted for air and stared at each other as they breathed.

                “We must rest, captain. We'll land in a few hours.”

                “I know.”

                “We have days at the base after we land. At least a few weeks until the next mission.”

                “You're right.” He smiled.

                Jyn gave him a brief kiss and stood up to pull the sheet over him, leave a shirt on top of the other bed so he could get dressed when they woke up and finally she took off her own boots and joined him under the blanket.

                “I can sleep now,” the captain said, kissing her forehead as they hugged each other. “You're spoiling me, Jyn.”

                She giggled and lightly stroked his back.

                “It’s reciprocal.”

                Cassian also laughed softly and soon they were in the dream world.

******

                “This is going to explode!!” K-2 warned.

                In less than two seconds the Empire's bombs exploded in random places as civilians, rebels and stormtroopers mingled in flight or combat. Forced to admit that it would be impossible to be of any help to stop it, Jyn, Cassian and K-2 decided to withdraw as quickly as possible and luckily no stormtrooper was willing to follow them too far, the few who tried were soon defeated by K-2, armed with a blaster. It wasn't possible to know where the next explosion would be or where the next shot would come from. And there was no time to think when something exploded on the trio's escape route. In a second they were thrown away, but Cassian cared little about the various scratches he should have now, Jyn was close to the explosion!

                “Jyn! Jyn!”

                He looked around, watching K-2 balancing and looking around for enemies. Jyn was lying to his right, not moving.

                “She lost consciousness,” K-2 confirmed.

                Cassian lightly shook the unconscious body on the floor without answer. Jyn was overturned and what he could see was that blood ran down the corner of her lips and forehead. The sleeve of her shirt was damaged and her arm bruised, not from the explosion, but from the collision of being thrown at the stone wall and falling to the floor next.

                “K-2, I don’t want odds now, we need to get her out of here.”

                “I suggest you hurry, we can be reached even though we're already a considerable distance from the population in panic.”

                The droid helped Cassian turn Jyn up. Some stitches on her clothing had also been damaged and showed the exposed bruise or blood stains reported more wounds underneath the fabric. The captain turned the rebel's head to the side carefully, it was the standard procedure to avoid suffocation, relieved to realize that she was breathing. He pressed his fingers to her neck and he could feel her heart.

                “She’s alive!”

                The wound on her head was shallow and the cut on her lips was nothing more than a consequence of the collision with the ground, but these were no reason for Cassian not to worry. They needed to get her out and take care of her fast!

                “K-2, go ahead and wait for me with the ship open. It's only a few meters.”

                The droid looked around to make sure they were not followed and walked swiftly in the direction of the Rogue Two.

                “Jyn,” Cassian tried one more time.

                The rebel didn't react. Cassian tried to wipe the blood from her lips and her head, but it flowed faster than he could hold. Then he searched for broken bones and he was glad he didn't find any. He caught Jyn in his lap and took some time still down, afraid that any movement would hurt her more. Then he rose and her arm fell beside her body, the blood staining his shirt as her head was propped on his chest and Cassian felt another wave of fear. He ran as fast as he could to Rogue Two, ignoring the pain he felt from the collision he himself had suffered. K-2 shut the ship as soon as he entered, and took off at the same instant Cassian accommodated Jyn in the ship's dormitory.

                “Should I leave a medical team ready at the base?”

                “Tell the base what happened and say we'll be there in about eight hours.”

                “The chances of her being unconscious for a long time are 62%, I'll seek medical advice and pass it on to you.”

                “Do it.”

                “Do you want my help?” The droid asked appearing in the bedroom.

                “No. I appreciate it, Kay, but I'd better do it myself.”

                “You also need care.”

                “After her, I promise.”

                "Understandable. I'll be in the cockpit if you need me.”

                The droid withdrew and Cassian closed the door. He ran into the bathroom in search of the medical kit, there were bacta sprays, bandages, towels, dressings and syringes of analgesic for pain. He grabbed one of the towels and pressed the wound to Jyn's forehead, watching the white cloth dye red after a few seconds. When he managed to stanch the blood, he wiped the wound from her lips. He took off her jacket, boots and holster with her blaster, plus her gloves, seeing the bruises on the exposed parts of her fingers.

                “It's going to be all right, Jyn,” he said nervously even though she didn't hear.

                Then he changed her clothes, cleaning and treating the other injuries in the process. At last he knelt beside the bed, just to watch her breathe and try to convince himself that she was all right, just sleeping.

                “You suffered it much worse than that when we were saved from Scarif. Surprise me again, Stardust,” he said, holding her hand and stroking it with his thumb. “Be well when you open your eyes, please. May the force be with you,” he said softly, kissing her forehead and leaving the bedroom to refresh K-2.

                Jyn woke up confused and sore. The room was dark and she couldn't remember how she'd gotten there. Several spots on her body burned and she had the impression of the right corner of the lower lip being a little swelling. She raised her hand to her head, but regretted it when her fingers touched the bandage and she felt a terrible pain. Her hair was loose and her clothes had been changed to clean ones, looser and softer, and a sheet covered her. She remembered running with Cassian and K-2 and then nothing else. The sound of the door opening revealed Cassian's worried face. He switched on the light when he saw the light eyes open and sat on the bed beside her, immediately taking her hand in his under the sheet. The captain had changed his clothes and he was also wounded. Jyn took some time admiring him and thinking again how beautiful he looked dressing in blue, but she pushed the thought away as she saw bruises on his arms, a scratch on the left side of his forehead, another bruise on his cheek, and a small cut on the right side of his nose.

                “Jyn!”

                “Trust goes both ways,” she reminded him quietly before the worried brown eyes and they managed to smile at each other.

                “I know.”

                “What happened?”

                “You were too close to the explosion. We were thrown away. You hit the wall hard and then hit the ground. We don't know what exploded, K-2 said it was one of the bombs implanted on the ground by the Empire. The attack on that planet had been previously planned as we suspect.”

                “But... Will they be okay?”

                Cassian thought for a moment. No matter how much time passed, Jyn never changed. She kept worrying about the innocent people shook around her, even though she was in a much worse situation than they were. He smiled at her.

                “We couldn't continue there, it was just the three of us against a minefield and a battalion of stormtroopers. And you lost consciousness and bleeding a lot. But I made contact with our base and with Yavin 4. Of course there were losses and not all of them could be saved, but the larger armed rebel groups than ours who could remain there managed to control the situation and there was no ship or soldier of the Empire left to go back and tell the story. The bombs were also located and exploded safely or deactivated.”

                “How long have we left that planet? Where are we going?”

                “Almost six hours, we're going back to base. You didn't break anything, but you got hurt, you need better care than I could offer. The bacta already had some effect, the burns on your arms were gone. We ran with you to the ship and K-2 piloted while I took care of you. Don't you remember?”

                “No. Just us being on the run and then nothing. And if your care was so bad I don't think I'd be talking to you right now.”

                “I think the Force is with us. How do you feel?”

                “Hurts a lot.”

                “We have those painkillers.”

                “I don’t want to sleep again.”

                “Could you stop your stubbornness and agitation at least when you got hurt? I'll stay here with you.”

                She eventually accepted. Cassian took the medical kit and prepared the syringe with the medication. He lifted the sleeve of Jyn's shirt and she closed her eyes when she felt the slight twinge of the needle. Cassian was very delicate and she hardly felt anything. He stanched the little blood that escaped and discarded the material used in the bathroom. He came back two minutes later, sitting down on the bed again to take off his boots and lie down next to her.

                “Are you alright?” She asked when they looked at each other.

                “Yes. I was very scared, Jyn,” he confessed. “After we woke up in the hospital days after the tragedy in Scarif I thought... That if I could, I never wanted to see you close your eyes if it wasn't for sleeping.”

                “Me too,” she said, turning to him slowly.

                They looked at each other for a moment, they closed their eyes and joined their lips. Jyn felt a stab of pain in her bruised lip, but she didn't care.

                “You won't get rid of me that easy.”

                “I thank you for that.”

                They smiled at each other. Cassian stroked her hair and her face. Minutes later the painkiller started its effect and Jyn fell asleep again. She hated to know that she was asleep because of medication and not naturally, even though it wasn't exactly unpleasant, when she stopped to think about it, it seemed like a strange way of dying, even though she knew she would just go to sleep. But the safety of being in Cassian's arms and the gentle caress in her head completely alienated her thoughts from the medicine in her veins and she didn't even try to fight off sleep.

******

                “Go rest, we'll be on autopilot for some time,” K-2 told Cassian.

                “I really need to,” he said, sliding his hands over his face and rising.

                The droid switched back to the controls of the ship and Cassian entered the other rooms looking for Jyn. She was sitting on the floor of one of the rooms studying maps of some planets. Her attention turned to him as the door opened.

                “You look tired.”

                “And I am,” he said, going to sit next to her. “Interested in the planets we've visited? And why on the floor if we have a table?”

                “Making some more specific markings on maps according to what we saw. It may be useful in the future. I wanted to move around a little, spread the maps on the ground helps.”

                “I agree.”

                Jyn stopped moving the maps, setting them aside and looking at him.

                “Have you been driving since that time?”

                “Yes. Even with the help of K-2 I had to be alert, dangerous area.”

                She got up and went to sit on the corner of the sofa, beckoning him to sit beside her. Cassian accepted. The rebel pulled him by the back of his neck to kiss him, a simple, calm kiss, but slow and comforting. Then she pulled him to lie on her lap. The captain closed his eyes as he lay down and took in the pleasurable sensation of Jyn's fingers playing with his hair and stroking his shoulder.

                “Try to relax.”

                He opened his eyes.

                “When I close my eyes I see the control panel of the ship again.”

                Jyn chuckled.

                “You should have called me to help.”

                “You spent half the day driving with K-2 while I planned our new route.”

                “Think of something else. Think of that beach we visited and that blue sky, or the stars we were staring at yesterday. Don't you find them comforting?”

                “Although I know that many of them may not be friendly places to visit...? Yes,” he answered truthfully.

                “Try.”

                Jyn stroked his hair again and her other hand moved between the captain's shoulder and chest. Cassian sighed and closed his eyes again, allowing himself to be carried away by the wonderful feeling of Jyn's caresses, who smiled as she watched him. She could do that and look at him all night. Or day... In the open space it was always night, she almost laughed at the thought, but restrained herself to don't interrupt the relaxation that Cassian had finally found. She wondered what he was thinking now. Then her left hand stopped, just above where she felt his heart beat. It was a strange and inexplicably wonderful sensation. Cassian's breathing indicated that he had finally been overcome by exhaustion and he was actually asleep.

                Jyn continued stroking his hair. In those moments her thoughts went far. She thought about what Cassian's life might have been like before they met, although he had already told her a lot, she thought about the child he must have been many years ago, and inevitably the tragedies that had destroyed their families in much the same way, she thought about how he had learned to use weapons and fly ships, and at what point he had officially become a Rebel Alliance soldier. She remembered herself at the age of eight crying alone for many nights after Saw thought she was already asleep and he was leaving her room, and in her mind she could see a six-year-old Cassian doing the same when Mon Mothma left his room at night. They talked every day and there was always something unexplained to reveal to each other, but there was still so much to say... But now only that quiet moment mattered.

                “You can sleep in peace.”

                Cassian's hand rested next to her above where she could feel the captain's heart beat. Jyn took it between hers and kissed it softly, returning their hands to the position before, stroking his brown hair and lacing her fingers with Cassian's.

                “Good night, Cass.”


	15. Until the end, for all the way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> K-2 thought Jyn would shoot Cassian at the earliest opportunity, and he remained cautious for a long time. But Cassian disagrees. Jyn Erso may be just a person as bruised by the galaxy as he is. Maybe she still has a heart.

                Cassian was pacing the ship, preparing everything for takeoff in a few minutes.

                “Why does she get a blaster and I don’t?”

                Cassian stopped what he did for a second to turn to Jyn.

                “What?!” He asked confused and alert.

                Jyn was sitting behind them with a blaster A180 in her hands.

                “I know how to use it,” she told him.

                “That's what I'm afraid of,” he said, moving slowly toward her. “Give it to me,” he said calmly, holding out his hand.

                K-2SO turned around expectantly in the swivel chair to look at the two of them.

                “We're going to Jedha,” she replied. “That's a war zone,” she said firmly.

                “That's not the point. Where'd you get it?” Cassian asked, lowering his hand.

                “I found it,” she said simply.

                “I find that answer is vague and unconvincing,” K-2 spoke from the cockpit.

                The three of them were silent for some time.

                “Trust goes both ways,” Jyn said as they still stared.

                The captain looked into the depths of her clear eyes, looking for any trace of betrayal or threat, but he didn't find it. He stared at the floor as he reflected. He might even regret it later, but she seemed sincere. In those eyes he saw only strength and the same challenge tone as always. He looked at her one last time in agreement, and went to sit next to K-2.

                “You’re letting her keep it?” The droid asked actually outraged. “Would you like to know the probability of her using it against you?” He insisted when Cassian ignored him and continued to pack his seat belt. “It’s high,” he said looking at the ship's control panel.

                “Let’s get going,” Cassian replied, putting the earphones on.

                “It’s very high.” he finally spoke, even though Cassian had already decided.

******

                They were about halfway to Jedha, the ship would be on autopilot for some time. Cassian was still sleeping in the pilot's seat, sleeping was something he had abstained a lot in the last few days, all to rescue a criminal they didn't even know, and whom K-2 was certain they couldn't trust, and who didn't want to be rescued, only released, to escape again in a second, what the droid had managed to avoid.

                Walking around the ship, K-2 saw Jyn sitting in the same place as before, watching Cassian sleep, and the droid thought he saw a friendly smile flick through her lips, but she was serious again so fast that K-2 couldn't have assurance. Instantly checked the location of the blaster, it was stuck in a holster on her direct leg.

                “I wasn’t expecting him to sleep to kill him if that's what you’re thinking.”

                “We're not going to kill you too if that's what you're thinking, as long as you don't do anything to provoke it,” the droid told her.

                “And who would be my watchdog in Jedha? You?”

                “We can’t let you die until the mission completes, unless strictly necessary.”

                “Answer vague and unconvincing,” she countered.

                The droid was silent.

                “Since I found this blaster you took a thousand notes of the chances of me killing your captain, but so far I've received only direct and indirect threats without having said another word since we left.”

                “It is my duty to protect the captain in every way, even if you aren't well with it.”

                “Everyone here has the right to protect themselves. I've been completely alone for years, I've always taken care of myself without waiting for anyone's help, and I don't intend to change that now. You have to trust people often, but that doesn't mean you have to rely on them when things get bad, because there is always a probability that there is no one there for you or you open your eyes suddenly and find you are alone or that you've been left behind.”

                “I don’t understand human feelings,” K-2 spoke and went off somewhere else.

                Cassian had turned the chair forward again when he woke up and listened to the droid's conversation with the rebel, but he had shown no sign of being awake. Her last words gave him a hint of some betrayal in the past, someone she trusted very much. And she had spoken of solitude... Alone, completely alone... The captain took a deep breath, feeling a tightness in his chest at the thought of his own life. Alone, completely alone... He trusted Mon Mothma and his Alliance's friends, and now he had K-2, but still... Trusting people didn't mean they would be there for you when things went bad. Maybe Jyn Erso had a heart... Maybe she was somebody besides a dangerous criminal who would be an instrumental in the Alliance's plans. He had been surviving and fighting endlessly since he was six years old. He had been surviving and fighting endlessly since he was six years old. He had said it cruelly to her as if her pain didn't matter. Since when was Jyn fighting?

******

                K-2 was piloting the ship, they would arrive in Jedha in a few hours. Cassian went through the mission plans in his mind and walked around the ship looking for Jyn. He had shown her one of the bedrooms so she could sleep if she wanted. The rebel had retreated about an hour ago, and K-2 had been insistently inspecting the bedroom door and watching Jyn, even if she had left the door half open by her own will. And he hadn't forgotten to remind Cassian several times of the possibility of her killing them and stealing the ship before they knew it.

                He reached the door to the bedroom, watching Jyn sleep serenely on the bed below one of the bunks. She had just taken off her boots, the blaster was still trapped in the holster, perhaps an attempt to keep K-2 from stealing it from her easily if he decided to do it. Or simply fear fueled for years. Cassian could remember the horrible hours he'd spent after seeing his parents being killed and their house on fire. He had hidden among the trees and rocks and decided to arm himself with a sharp branch he found on the ground, and even when he fell asleep through exhaustion, he didn't it let go. Then he woke up being rescued by Mon Mothma hours later.

                The sleeping face seemed serene and relaxed as if she hadn't slept for years. Cassian studied her expressions. At first he couldn't deny that she was beautiful. She could be arrogant, suspicious, sarcastic, completely unpredictable, aggressive, and even dangerous as everyone thought, but she was beautiful anyway. He still wouldn't trust her, during the years alone and in the midst of the war against the Empire he had learned not to trust anyone so quickly. But that calm face didn't seem to belong to a bad person. Jyn Erso might not belong to either side, she could abhor the Empire, not join the Alliance, prefer to live alone and under her own rules, but judging from what Cassian could see by now she didn't look like the person who K- 2 swore that she would shoot him at the first opportunity she could do that, and flee immediately.

                He found himself thinking again about how hard he'd been with her since they'd rescued her and the damage that the loneliness of so many years must have done to her. He had had Mon Mothma, made friends, found a home and something to fight for, and now he had K-2. And Jyn? Who was there for her? Where had she lived all this time? What had she done to the Empire to capture her and arrest her in a prison camp with forced labor? Maybe they had time to talk about it after the mission was over, if she didn't get away, and if they both survived. He recoiled instinctively as Jyn stirred in her sleep and took a deep breath. He wondered if she was suffering from a nightmare, but her face remained calm. It must have been a reflection of days of exhaustion, a situation he knew well. She shifted again and her green eyes widening. She blinked a few times and sat on the bed, running her hands over her face before fully awakening. She looked around and turned to put her feet on the floor. She was going to put on her boots, but she noticed Cassian outside.

                “We arrived?”

                “Not yet.”

                “Did you come to watch me for fear I'd kill you too? You can open the door, I promise I won't bite you, nor shoot you.”

                Cassian did so.

                “I was passing by... And it seems to me you have not slept in days, maybe months.”

                “Like you.”

                They were silent as Jyn wore her boots.

                “I'm sorry if you went bad with what I said before.”

                “You said too much.”

                “How long have you been living like this? Fleeing and running? Don't you live somewhere?”   

                Jyn finally understood what he was referring to.

                “I was born in this fight. And my house caught fire when I was eight, it was the last one I had.”

                Jyn was silent, pondering whether it would be worth telling him a part of her story and if there were motives for it. There wasn't, but she decided to continue, because there was no reason not to tell too.

                “I don't remember much, but when I was very young I remember seeing the fear in my mother's eyes, and a short time later my father took us to live in Lah'mu. I didn't understand why we were running away, but three years later the Imperials found us, they killed my mother and all I could do was run while our house caught fire and the stormtroopers came looking for me. I was eight years old. I never saw my father again.”

                “You can’t have survived alone since that day.”

                “No. Someone helped me. Trust goes both ways, but years later I discovered that it wasn't so with him.”

                Cassian was silent and almost everything he knew and thought about her began to change at that moment. She had lived in the same horror as him, and then she had been alone, for years, without a single person or droid beside her, with no support or comfort, and no home or any shelter when it rained, or when she needed rest, or if she were injured. Cassian had many scars made in battle, and he was sure she did too. He had always had the Alliance at his side to help him in the times he almost died, and now he wondered how Jyn was still alive. He believed that meeting Saw Gerrera could answer many of these questions. Jyn had been annoyed and angry at hearing about him, and Cassian was beginning to suspect that he had been the cause of the hurt that Jyn occasionally showed.

                “I'm so sorry.”

                “Don't feel. I'm still alive. And when that mission is over, let's each go to our own side again.”

                “If all goes well, the Alliance will help you. We don’t break our promises.”

                “That general didn’t seem willing to help me.”

                “He alone is not the Alliance. And just like you and me, everyone there went through traumas. Draven has reasons to be aggressive and overly mistrustful. But if it wasn't for the Alliance I would be dead. I'm not going to discuss where the Alliance was when the Empire found you and your family, Jyn. But if Mon Mothma has promised help, the Alliance will help you.”

                “That doesn't change things very much. I still won't have a place to return or someone waiting for me, but I'll be happy if we can get it over with.”

******

                “I’m surprised you’re so concerned about my safety,” the droid asked suspiciously.

                “I’m not. I’m just worried they might miss you and hit me.”

                “If you or I die in Jedha, don't be surprised. Then don't say I didn't warn you,” K-2 said to Cassian, not caring that Jyn was listening.

******

                K-2 and Bodhi looked at each other as they commanded the ship and listened to Jyn and Cassian quarrel elsewhere. The rebel wasn't accepting the idea that Cassian had planned to kill her father, even though he had chosen not to, even before realizing that Jyn was there too.

                “Is this frequent?” Bodhi asked quietly.

                “No, she's usually fighting me.”

                “So is she really arrogant?”

                “No, but she says everything she really thinks, like me.”

                Bodhi looked at the droid, confirming his suspicions that Jyn was peaceful if unprovoked. They heard a door slam and they exchanged another look.

                “I learned not to get involved,” K-2 said. “And that greatly reduces her chances of firing at us anytime.”

                “Would she do it?”

                “Cassian thinks not, but I'm always alert. Take care of the ship, I can't risk having my captain killed now,” the droid spoke as he stood up and moved closer to where the door had hit.

                In the mess hall Cassian watched Jyn sit and stand in one of the chairs. They were both still drenched in the rain. That disturbing silence lasted for a few more seconds and though Jyn's head was low, he could see her cry, silently. Not from anger anymore but from his father. Everything had been taken from her, and when, after more than ten years, she had finally found a light, it had been erased almost instantly. She cried for several minutes, not caring that Cassian was watching her or that they were starting to shake because of the cold.

                The captain sat next to her, somewhat afraid that she would be angry, but she just kept crying. He put a hand on the rebel's shoulder, in the softer attempt of solace. Jyn didn't want to cry, even more in front of someone she'd known so recently, but for some reason she felt she didn't need to fear Cassian would see her tears, and he hadn't really pulled the trigger, even when he might have killed her too with no big problems with that, but he didn't, and he had still managed to delay the rebels' attack to save her life. The two were getting colder every second, but his hand on her shoulder felt warm and welcoming. No word was exchanged, no other movement was done, but that was all Jyn needed now, which she had needed so many times in all those years alone, someone who only listened to her, though the only sound now was her tears, someone who was only there by her side sharing her pain, without any need for words or gestures.

                “I'm so sorry, Jyn,” he said quietly after a long time as she managed to calm down and remain silent.

                The tone of Cassian's voice betrayed the weight of guilt he felt, even if he hadn't shot.

                “It wasn’t your fault,” Jyn answered in a whisper.

                “Neither yours.”

                More silence.

                “Jyn... We need to change, we better not risk any colds. I'm going out first and give some occupation to K-2 and Bodhi to keep them out of the way from here to the dorm. Rest for the rest of the night, you don't have to answer any more questions today.”

                “You also need to take care of yourself.”

                “I’ll do this.”

                Cassian left the room, closing the door and facing K-2 at the end of the hall.

                “Isn't Bodhi in need of help? Has he already changed? We can't afford to get sick.”

                “He's already fine, he's driving.”

                “Go help him.”

                “Are you going to leave her alone there so that besides a blaster she can arm herself with a knife?”

                “K-2, please!” He whispered to the droid. “She just lost her father. She thought she'd never see him again, and when she found him, she lost him in the next instant. She needs to have time with herself now.”

                “What if she gets mad at you again? Do you want to know the odds she's building a real arsenal right now?”

                “No. Just go help Bodhi.”

                “Okay,” K-2 answered after a few seconds in silence and withdrew.

******

                Jyn left the meeting room without really having a clue what to do or where to go. She didn't have a house, nor anyone waiting for her anywhere in the galaxy, her father was dead, she didn't have a ship or a droid, and she didn't know how to fly. The Alliance didn't agree with her ideas, which, although bold and suicidal, were clearly the only remaining chance. She couldn't go to Scarif alone. Nothing seemed to be left other than waiting for the chance of a ride to somewhere or the opportunity to travel clandestinely on some ship to any planet when she saw Cassian appear before her.

                “If you’re really doing this, I want to help,” he said with conviction, looking deep in her eyes.

                Jyn looked at him hopefully, trying to believe what he had said and staring into his brown eyes with the same force. He sounded sincere. Soon Chirrut, Baze, Bodhi and the other rebels came around to the ship, they would help too. Jyn felt her heart tighten. It wasn't for her, it was for a greater good, but she was the spark that had ignited that flame and see that they would follow her and believe her, although through Cassian, it moved her.

                “I'm not used to people sticking around when things go bad,” she told the captain as they walked around each other, without being able to take their eyes off.

                “Welcome home,” he smiled.

                Jyn smiled back. It was weird, it was good, it was wonderful. How long hadn't she felt that way? Live, welcomed and valued. And for the first time in years after being abandoned by Saw, she could feel affection for someone again.

                K-2SO appeared as everyone entered the ship, never taking their eyes off the rebel.

                “Still worried about that?” Cassian asked when Jyn wasn’t around.

                “A large crowding of people is a great opportunity to shoot not only at you, but even at me. Didn't you see how she tossed mercilessly at that imperial droid of the same model as me in Jedha? And she didn't even know where I was, let alone the suspicious expression when she saw me and I asked if she knew it was not me. She said yes, but I didn't find it convincing.”

                “K-2, she won't shoot me, neither you, not anyone. What we just saw inside seems enough to prove we can trust her.”

******

                “You'll need this,” Jyn held the blaster in the direction of K-2. “You wanted one, right?”

                The droid accepted the gun and watched Jyn and Cassian run to the other side before the door closed. K-2 didn't reason or get confused in the same way as humans, but before actually concentrating on the control panel of that immense place he reflected on all the odds he had made about Jyn, which had never materialized. And now Cassian seemed to like her much more than a simple ally deserved. The droid had no reason to speak aloud, but if his captain respected the rebel, now a sergeant, he too would.

******

                “Did they already know you were reactivated?” Mon Mothma asked quietly the K-2 in the corridor of the medical center.

                “No. The doctors and droids told me that Jyn woke up yesterday. Cassian has not yet. They took out all the machines that were connected to him today once he stabilized. I found out where they are, I passed them an hour ago.”

                Cassian's situation had been considered extremely serious when by miracle an abandoned and damaged rebel ship landed on Yavin 4. They had fled at the last second and placed the ship on autopilot. Jyn had made contact with the base to land the ship safely, for Cassian was totally unconscious, in addition to the high fever, the wounds, and the broken bones. Jyn wasn't much better, but much less injured, and she fainted half an hour after they being rescued in a hurry, repeating untiringly to not to separete them. After some discussion and an intervention of Mon Mothma the doctors had complied with the request. Cassian had spent three whole days in a bacta tank, Jyn only one, and now they had been back for five days.

                “Cassian must have woken up while I was gone,” the droid said, looking out the half-open door.

                Mon Mothma looked into the room and she couldn't help but smile. There were two beds in the room, but Jyn occupied the same bed as Cassian. They slept serenely, hugging, lying on their side in direction of each other. One of Cassian's hands rested on the rebel's light hair, Jyn wrapped one arm around him, and her other hand was entwined with Cassian's. They both had quiet expressions on their faces, and they almost smiled, as if nothing in the world worried them.

                “Let's leave them. There're other patients we can visit and help while they don't wake up,” the woman said, still smiling, closing the bedroom door and moving to another place with the droid.


	16. The Force will be with you, always

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fourteen years later, Rey still has memories. She holds very well. Good memories, but they hurt a lot.

 “ _Whomever_   _you are waiting_   _for on_   _Jakku_ , _they're_   _never_   _coming back._ ”

That phrase hammered in Rey's heart as if every time she passed it in her mind it took a painful blow. It was the first time she'd been able to stop to think about it ever since she'd heard the words of Maz Kanata. She looked into the four corners of her room at the Millennium Falcon, not having the faintest idea that her mother, many, many years ago, had slept in that same room a few times. It was a kind of guest room, but still cozy and Rey liked it, so that she had turned it into her official chambers inside the ship. The emptiness and silence with which she had learned to live in Jakku now caused her sadness and pain, perhaps because of the immense amount of new information running through her head, and the fact that her life had completely changed with the simple act of helping a lost droid. Fourteen years ago her parents would embrace her and tell her how beautiful life can be, despite all the bad things. And they would tell her the stories she loved to hear about the Jedi and how the Rogue One caused the destruction of the first Death Star.

“ _Whomever_   _you are waiting_   _for on_   _Jakku_ , _they're_   _never_   _coming back._ ”

Maz Kanata's words weighed on her heart again, and her eyes filled with tears. Green eyes like those of her mother. Her father used to talk about how close she looked with her, the color of her eyes, the same freckles, the same courage. And her mother was talking about what she had from her father, the same affection, the talent to take care of droids and machines, even if she was only five... Dark blond hair, a mixture of both. And her discussions with K-2SO, the imperial droid reprogrammed by her father long before she was born, before he even knew her mother and the two became involved in the story of the Death Star.

Rey burst out laughing, listening to the constant exchange of barbs between her mother and K-2, which always ended with Jyn smiling and the droid confused or indifferent. Her father said that Rey had the same talent of the mother to corner K-2 during a dialogue, even if it wasn't intentional, after all she was only a child. Rey smiled, but her smile disappeared into the tears she'd given up holding back.

 “ _Stay here_.  _I'll come back for you, I’ll come back_ , _sweetheart_. _I _promise__.”

Why would they never come back?! Rey hadn't had time to clarify this. Were they dead? Or they just wouldn't go back to Jakku, but were they somewhere else? Maybe arrested? And how could Maz Kanata know that?! And K-2? She would come back and clarify this at the end of the mission. And she was beginning to suspect that Han knew something, but now he was dead. With luck she would find out something with Chewie.

Rey spent more long minutes alone, letting the tears and pain accumulated for fourteen years break free. Suddenly she thought of Finn, wanted him to be there, and wondered if he was all right, and awake. She wiped her eyes, needing to regain focus.

_“Never lose hope. Rebellions are built on hope, Stardust.”_

Hers parents' words echoed in her memory, and when she thought she looked better, she left the bedroom and found Chewie walking down the hall. The Wookiee looked at her worriedly and made a sad grunt. Rey gave him a sad, but sincere smile.

“I wish Finn were here...” she confessed. “And BB 8. And Han...”

The Wookiee nodded and his eyes filled with sadness, as did Rey's when mentioning the best friend Chewie had cruelly lost. The girl hugged the alien, who promptly returned it as he made some sad murmurs.

“I’m sorry.”

Chewie answered her with another sound that would be incomprehensible to anyone else.

                “It’s all right.”

                They moved away and Chewie reacted with another noise, seeking confirmation of what his new commander had said. Rey shook her head affirmatively and exchanged a smile with him, watching him head towards the cockpit.

******

Cassian hurried into the bedroom when he heard the cry of his four-year-old daughter. It was six in the morning. Usually Rey woke between six and seven thirty. The girl had appeared in the parents' bedroom at dawn holding hands with K-2 begging to sleep with them after a strange dream.

“Shh… Daddy's here, it's all right, my dear,” he reassured her, hugging her and kissing her hair.

The little girl hugged him tightly and spent another two minutes crying while Cassian shook her lightly. Jyn also appeared in the bedroom, worriedly taking in her green eyes, and sat down beside them, joining in the embrace and also kissing her daughter's dark blond hair.

“Do you need help out there?” Cassian asked softly.

“K-2 will end.”

He nodded and they turned their attention to their now calmer daughter. Jyn hugged the girl looking into her eyes, just like hers, and watching her daughter's face with the same freckles that were on hers.

“What happend, my love?”

“Did you see fire and heavy rain on a dark night again?” Cassian asked.

“I was alone in the desert, everyone left. I screamed and nobody came back. Someone pulled me to stay. The ship left. You promised you would go back and you left,” she said, letting fresh tears stream down her face.

The couple looked at each other worriedly. They knew that Rey had been sensitive to the Force since before she was born. Jyn's kyber crystal sometimes shimmered when Rey moved from the fifth month of pregnancy and it had shone brightly the moment she was born. The girl start having strange and bad dreams so early couldn't be a good sign. Fifteen years had passed from the battle of Scarif to her birth, but the threat of the Empire was still present.

“We're not going anywhere, sweetheart," Jyn told her, wiping her tears and kissing her forehead.

“I saw snow,” Rey said in the childlike voice still a little affected by crying. “And the voices. There was someone running after me,” she squinted her eyes as she said it, trying not to cry again, but then opened them again.

“Who, Rey?” Cassian wanted to know.

“I don’t know. I woke up.”

Jyn hugged her daughter, feeling her hold her back with all the strength her little arms would allow, and looked at Cassian again. He could see the fear and pain in her green eyes, and he knew that the same could be seen in his brown. He kissed his wife's face in an effort to reassure her and hugged them both.

Earlier, Rey had also heard voices, including that of Luke's friend, that they knew to be Yoda. And she had seen Luke himself next to one of the Alliance droids, whose description she fitted into R2-D2, in the rain. Clear dreams, with individuals and places they recognized, but Rey had never seen.

******

“I'm scared, Cass.”

Jyn sat on a bench and watched Rey run and laugh around K-2 in the grass, as if no bad dream had ever clouded her sleep that morning.

“I'd be lying if I said I don't feel it too. But we must try to understand what that was. We know someone can help us. But let's think a bit and try to get her little head off these things for now.”

The rebel nodded and continued to stare out the window. Cassian hugged her from behind and Jyn allowed herself to bury herself in his embrace. The captain kissed her hair and then searched her lips. They exchanged a kiss and a smile, hugging each other as before, but this time Jyn rested her hands over Cassian's, entwining her fingers. Outside, Rey smiled at them, and they involuntarily smiled back.

******

“Why such insistence? Cassian inserted data into my programming, I know how to hold a child, though the nanny function doesn't fit into my system at all.”

“It costs nothing to test,” Cassian replied, sitting down beside the droid.

Jyn was lying down, K-2 and Cassian sitting next to her. The droid held a wrapping of blankets with the newborn for only a few hours. The little girl stirred a little, and despite her usual complaints, K-2 seemed interested in watching her, which made Cassian smile.

“She looks a lot like you,” he said, looking at Jyn.

“I think so,” she smiled. “But there's something about Cassian on her little face too.”

“Really.”

The bedroom fell silent suddenly, broken by K-2.

“Are you still worried just because a kyber crystal shone?”

“You know it's not any crystal,” Cassian told him. “It confirms that Rey is Force-sensitive. And bearing in mind that threats to the well-being of the universe continue even after what happened in Scarif, Rey's future worries us.”

“In fact,” Jyn said. “But... For today, Cass, let's try to follow K-2 and not care about that much. Our Stardust has finally arrived, today we must celebrate her life. And like us, she'll always have hope. Whatever she has to face, let's make sure she always remembers, rebellions are built on hope.”

“You're right,” The captain smiled.

Rey made a cry sobbing and K-2 tried to calm the baby by swaying slightly, leaving the couple immensely happy in front of the scene. When Rey slept, Cassian took her out of the droid's arms, who retired to do some daily chores of his work with Jyn and Cassian in the rebel base they commanded. He laid the girl down with Jyn and lay down beside them.

“I love you,” the rebel said quietly.

“I love you too.”

They sealed their lips in a sweet kiss that lasted for a few seconds and turned their attention to the child between them.

“We love you, my dear. May the Force be with you,” Jyn told the little girl.

“The Force will be with you, Rey, always.”


End file.
